HAND MADE INVITATION TO THE EXECUTION DU TESTEMENT DU MARQUIS DE SADE PAR JEAN BENOIT. 1959.

Paris: s.p. (the artist), December, 1959

23 x 16.5 hand made envelope (parchment) sealed with wax content of a 22 x 15.5cm, 4pp hand made paper card with tipped on 13.5 x 11cm original b/w offset lithograph. The extremely rare invitation to the Canadian Benoit’s action which took place in Joyce Monsour’s flat in Paris with Breton amongst others attending. The action took place just before the opening of the 1960 international surrealist exhibition and on the 150th anniversary of the libertine’s death.

The climax of the event – where Benoit wore an ornate surrealist costume – was the self-branding of the artist with a suitably erotic symbol a stylised penis (quickly followed by Roberto Matta’s inspired, copy-cat, albeit unplanned, self-marking).

Small 0.5 closed tear on the internal card but otherwise a fine example of this elusive documentation of a famous last surrealist event.