René CHAR and the Surrealists

Émile René Char, born in 1907 in Isle sur la Sorgue, began his life as a writer working with other famous artists.
In 1929, René Char based in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the journal Meridians with André Cayatte. He sent Paul Eluard a collection of his poems and they become friends, Eluard from even spend a few weeks in Isle sur la Sorgue. They then share a luxurious life in Paris.
In Paris, Char met Louis Aragon, André Breton, René Crevel and he joined the Surrealist movement.
René Char wrote successively "Arsenal", "The Tomb of secrets", "Slow work" in collaboration with Breton and Eluard in Avignon.
In 1930, Char, Aragon, Breton and Eluard based magazine Surrealism at the service of the revolution. After a stay in Dali in Cadaques, he published his poems Artine In 1931, Eluard visit with him Menerbes, Gordes, Lacoste and Saumane. In 1932, Char married and moved to Saumane. He travels between Paris and the French Riviera but always returns to Isle sur la Sorgue. It publishes the "Marteau sans maître," illustrated by Kandinsky.
Tank detaches from the Surrealist group in December 1934 and returned to live in Isle sur la Sorgue. Eluard and Man Ray join him there and assist him in his work "Dependence of farewell" illustrated by a drawing by Pablo Picasso.
In 1938 Char falls in love with Greta Knutson, Swedish painter, Tristan Tzara married and lives with her Maubec in Provence where she modeled for new poems.
During the German occupation, René Char between the resistance under the name of Captain Alexander. He directs the Action Service drop Durance area. He describes his feelings about this dark period in the "Sheets Hypnos."
In the post-war France, his pessimistic about the French and international political views similar to those of his friend Albert Camus.
In 1945, René Char asks Jean Vilar a performance of "Murder in the Cathedral" in the main chapel of the Palais des Papes in Avignon. Jean Vilar in 1947 but refuses, he proposes three parts: "Richard II" Shakespeare, "La Terrasse de Midi" Maurice Clavel and "History of Tobias and Sarah" by Paul Claudel. This is the birth of the Avignon Festival.
During the fifty and sixty years, Char knows a creative period and pays tribute to the artists who sailed with him. In 1983, his "Collected Works" were published in the prestigious Pleiade.