Babylon: Surreal Babies
Product ID: 55622863
A weird and wonderful collection of postcards of babies. Babies as never seen before! They hatch from eggs, bubble from cauldrons, are fished from rivers, emerge in the cabbage patch, sit atop clouds, ride in zeppelins, play instruments, drive automobiles, fly in balloons, harvest the fields. This is an anarchistic world of baby heaven. James Birch first came across them in France: A froth of smiling babies boiling away in a cauldron caught his eye and he bought the card. Years later, in the 1980s, he visited the Pompidou Centre, Paris, for an exhibition on Surrealism. On display was a collection of the cards, shown because of their importance to both the Dadaists and the Surrealists. For many artists in the 1920s and 30s, they were a source of inspiration and were collected by Salvador Dali, André Breton, Paul Éluard, Hannah Höch, Herbert Bayer, and Man Ray, amongst others. James Birch gathered this collection together as the result of his personal interest in Surrealism. The foreword to the book is one of the very last pieces to be written by George Melly. Probably best known as a jazz and blues singer, writer and broadcaster, Melly was also a respected art critic, a devotee of the Surrealists and an acknowledged expert in the subject. Review: Really cool book - This book is a whole b level of cool. During the turn of the previous century America was populated by orphans that were put on Orphan Trains and sent West and told to get off wherever they think they could get by best. The children showed up all over America and for awhile worked in our factories and farms. The post cards reflect the attitude of the people at the time who saw friends and neighbors wind up with these Mail Order Children. The lady who frequently appears with the babies was also in a Silent Film of the same topic. The way she was manhandling those babies it was like she had never seen them before and didn't know to be gentle. The whole topic is pretty nuts. Look up Wise Up on YouTube and watch his Cabbage Patch Kids documentary.
| Best Sellers Rank | 3,773,456 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 867 in Antique & Collectable Posters & Cards 947 in Antique & Collectable Books 2,742 in Paper Ephemera |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 12 Reviews |
L**R
Really cool book
This book is a whole b level of cool. During the turn of the previous century America was populated by orphans that were put on Orphan Trains and sent West and told to get off wherever they think they could get by best. The children showed up all over America and for awhile worked in our factories and farms. The post cards reflect the attitude of the people at the time who saw friends and neighbors wind up with these Mail Order Children. The lady who frequently appears with the babies was also in a Silent Film of the same topic. The way she was manhandling those babies it was like she had never seen them before and didn't know to be gentle. The whole topic is pretty nuts. Look up Wise Up on YouTube and watch his Cabbage Patch Kids documentary.
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