Documents magazine

Documents was a Surrealist art magazine edited by Georges Bataille, published in Paris from 1929 to 1930, totaling 15 issues. It was financed by Georges Wildenstein, a prominent Parisian art dealer and supporter of the Surrealists. Initially, the magazine listed an eleven-member editorial board, including Wildenstein, with Bataille as "general secretary." However, by the fifth issue, Bataille was the only remaining editorial member.

The magazine was described by Bataille as "a war machine against received ideas" and featured a diverse range of contributors, including dissident surrealists like Michel Leiris, André Masson, and Joan Miró, as well as colleagues from Bataille's work at the National Library’s Cabinet of Coins and Medals. Its content was eclectic, combining essays on topics such as jazz and archaeology with photographs fetishizing the big toe, an entire issue dedicated to Picasso, and Eli Lotar’s photographs of slaughterhouses. A recurring section called the "Critical Dictionary" included short essays on subjects like "Absolute," "Eye," and "Buster Keaton."

Documents was a direct challenge to mainstream Surrealism, particularly André Breton’s version, which Bataille criticized as weak and disingenuous. The magazine’s juxtaposition of explicit, often profane imagery with intellectual writing aimed to push Surrealism toward overturning artistic and moral hierarchies, advocating for a democracy of form. By contrasting with Breton’s vision, Bataille sought to create a darker, more primal alternative that defied conventional boundaries between art and morality.