Une Semaine de Bonté

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Une Semaine de Bonté (A Week of Kindness) is a graphic novel composed in collage by Max Ernst, made during a three week visit in Italy around the time of Hitler's rise to power in Germany. The novel was first published in 1934, as a series of five pamphlets of less than 1,000 copies each.

The novel consists of found images from Victorian encyclopedias and novels, cut up and re-organized into 182 montages which represent a kind of dark, surreal world. One such image includes a series of bird-men fleeing an unidentified terror, a giant hand reaching out of a window above.

[edit] Homages in modern culture

• The progressive rock band The Mars Volta have used one of the images^[1] from Une Semaine de Bonté on their t-shirts and as a backdrop when they play live since 2005.

• The band Alkaline Trio used one of the images from "Une Semaine" on a poster.

• The pictures from Une Semaine de Bonté are used as covers for Boris Akunin's books from Erast Fandorin series published in Russia.

• Much of the imagery in Jan Lenica's "Labyrinth" appears to have been strongly influenced by Ernrt's novel.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• La Boîte à Images: Une Semaine de Bonté Images from the work