André BRETON. Autograph manuscript, [1957]; 1 oblong page in-8 with erasures and corrections. Draft of a paragraph of the Two Surrealist Investigations, a text that appeared in No. 2 of the quarterly magazine Le Surréalisme, even (Spring 1957), announcing investigations of a painting by Gabriel Max and an anonymous painting. "The current vogue of the painting known as "non-figurative" does not exempt fortunately to scrutinize the intentions even "extra-pictorial" which could have animated such master of the past: a Jerome Bosch, a Giorgione, a Goya. There is nothing to prevent us from extending this curiosity to artists of lesser renown whenever the opportunity arises. We present here a painting which André Breton tells us "stopped" him several weeks ago, at the "Vernaison" market in St Ouen and since then to the point that he had to come back and examine it several times. The author of this undated work, Gabriel Max, born in Prague in 1840 (who died, we believe, in 1915), enjoyed evoking horrific subjects or striking the imagination with singularity and strangeness. Very widespread was once, in Paris, the reproduction of his "Face of Christ on the Shroud of St. Veronica" which seems to open the eyes when one looks at it for some time (1874)... "From sentimental mysticism, Max later passed to spiritualism, hypnotism and the reveries of diabolism". The fiftieth anniversary of the death of the author of Là-bas [Huysmans] (whose prestige with the Surrealists is well known) would be enough to bring Gabriel Max out of the shadows and call for discussion of this enigmatic work"... Breton crossed out his last sentence, which names a poet friend: "It has just been acquired by Mrs. Joyce Mansour."