Little Anatomy of the Physical Unconscious: Or, The Anatomy of the Image

The drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures of Hans Bellmer (1902–1975) stand as some of the most important erotic artwork from the last century. An expert draftsman with a razor-sharp capacity for detail and an obsessive, unfettered imagination, Bellmer was able to powerfully render the imagery he saw in his mind’s eye.

In the 1950s Hans Bellmer composed a small book in which he elucidated upon the psychosexual forces that provided the impetus for his artistic works. He described the project as "a kind of little anatomy of the (physical) unconscious with text and drawings. But it will also be a rather ‘dry’ work, by which I mean something tending to be exceedingly objective and avoiding, in the interests of clarity, whims of a verbal nature. It is the natural sequel to the experiments with the Doll, but should therefore encompass everything that Surrealism has brought to light. … But there is also a certain necessity in setting down this story, a necessity that is even quite enthralling."

In 1957 the original French edition appeared of Bellmer’s Little Anatomy of the Physical Unconscious, or the Anatomy of the Image, with ten original illustrations by the artist. The book met with a positive reception from poets and literary figures such as André Breton and Jöe Bousquet, as well as a number of psychologists. Particularly impressed by the selection of poetic anagrams in the book, Man Ray telegrammed Bellmer the following anagram in response: "IMAGE = MAGIE" (Image = Magic). Although Bellmer may have striven to take an almost clinical "scientific" approach to his analysis of the physical unconscious, the work is nevertheless informed by a hyperdriven sensual awareness and a distinctly "magical" view of life.

This is the first translation of Bellmer’s text to appear in English. After nearly half a century, a new audience of readers can experience his illumination of the "purely subjective" subconscious realm of our bodies which "finds nourishment in feverish, often psycho-pathological states, including that of sexual desire."