Les Soirées de Paris

• Les Soirées de Paris was founded in 1912 by Guillaume Apollinaire and a group of friends, and its two years of existence cover Apollinaire's most fruitful time as champion and critic of the new art. Although by no means the only publication he contributed to - he wrote regularly a "Chronique anecdotique" for the Mercure de France, and reviews for newspapers like L'Intransigeant and Paris-Journal - he was able, as its editor and co-editor, to direct its entire arena of interest. Apollinaire is most familiar in his role of art critic as defender of Cubism. He was long a friend of Picasso, whom he recognised with Braque as the true founder of a style of painting best known to the public through the work of the 'section d,or', painters, like Gleizes, Metzinger, Villon and Duchamp, with whom he was also closely linked [...]
• There is a definite continuity, from Les Soirées de Paris, through SIC and Nord-Sud, to Littérature. Apollinaire, the main-spring of Les Soirées de Paris, contributed to SIC, and to Nord-Sud; the first performance of his Les Mamelles de Tirésias took place under the auspices of SIC in June 1917. There is no doubt that Apollinaire remained the most important figure in advanced literary Paris until his death a few days before the Armistice in November 1918, and although they consciously signalled new directions both SIC and Nord-Sud implicity or explicitly paid homage to him. By January 1916, André Breton, who was to found Littérature with Philippe Soupault and Louis Aragon in March 1919, was in correspondence with Apollinaire and had sent him a poem (which showed, Apollinaire wrote back, a striking talent). Then, SIC welcomed the appearances of Picabia's review 391, and of the Zurich review Dada.
• TEXT CREDITS
  Dawn Ades, 'Les Soirées de Paris', in Dawn Ades, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed / with an introduction by David Sylvester and a supplement essay by Elizabeth Cowling (Arts Council of Britain : London 1978) 9-19, 9 and 15.
• COVER
  

• DESCRIPTION
  • Les Soirées de Paris : recueil mensuel
    [1re année], n° 1 (February 1912) - 3e année, n° 26/27 (July/August 1914).
    Paris : [s.n.], 1912-1914.
    27 n° : ill. ; 23-27 cm.
    Monthly.
  • Editors: Guillaume Apollinaire (director), André Salmon (since May 1912 Charles Perrès, René Dupuy (Dalize), André Tudesq, André Billy (director). As of n° 18 (November 1913) directors Guillaume Apollinaire and Jean Cérusse (pseudonym of Serge Férat and Hélène d'Oettingen), Jean Mollet.

• MAIN CONTRIBUTORS
• Guillaume Apollinaire, André Salmon, Charles Perrès, René Dalize, André Tudesq, André Billy, Serge Férat, Hélène d'Oettingen (Roch Grey), Alfred Jarry, Henri Rousseau.

• FACSIMILES/REPRINTS
• printed
  • Reprinted by Slatkine Reprints (Gene`ve 1971).

• SECONDARY LITERATURE
• Dawn Ades
  'Les Soirées de Paris', in Dawn Ades, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed / with an introduction by David Sylvester and a supplement essay by Elizabeth Cowling (Arts Council of Britain : London 1978) 9-19.
• Maria Dario
  Les Soire´es d Paris : laboratorio creativo dell'avanguardia (Unipress : Padova 2009).
•  
•