In the grand tradition of the Rothschild family, where wealth and opulence were part of daily life, Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and her husband Guy set out to create an unforgettable event that would push the boundaries of reality for their time.
The Surrealist Ball, held on December 12, 1972, at the Château de Ferrières, was more than just a high-society gathering, it was a living, breathing work of art, from the costumes to the tablecloths.
The hosts, Guy de Rothschild and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
The idea for the Surrealist Ball didn’t spring from nowhere. Marie-Hélène de Rothschild was a woman of refined taste, a connoisseur of art, and a passionate supporter of surrealism, a movement that sought to unlock the power of the unconscious mind and blend reality with dreams. Her fascination with the avant-garde, combined with the vast financial and social resources at her disposal, made her the perfect hostess for such an event.
Château de Ferrières, the setting for this surreal soirée, was the Rothschild family’s most lavish estate. Built in the 19th century on the orders of Guy’s ancestor, Baron James de Rothschild, the chateau was designed to outdo anything else of its kind. It was said that James, upon seeing his cousin’s Mentmore Towers in England, instructed his architect to “Build me a Mentmore, but twice the size.” The result was a sprawling neo-Renaissance palace that boasted 80 guest bedrooms, a vast library, and 30 square kilometers of forest. For years, the chateau stood empty, a silent testament to the Rothschilds’ immense wealth, until Marie-Hélène decided to restore it to its former glory and transform it into a hub of high-society life.
Marie-Hélène was no stranger to throwing extravagant parties, but this one was different. She wanted to create an experience that would challenge her guests, forcing them to confront the surreal and the strange.
"The invitations themselves were a puzzle—typed backward, they required a mirror to read."
The dress code was equally enigmatic: “black tie, long dresses, and surrealist heads.” This cryptic instruction hinted at the bizarre, dreamlike experience that awaited the guests.
The Château de Ferrières boasts 80 guest bedrooms, 11.5 square miles of forest, and an extensive library containing 80,000 volumes.
As guests approached Château de Ferrières on that cold December night, they were greeted by an astonishing sight. The entire facade of the chateau was lit in red, creating the eerie illusion that the building was engulfed in flames. It was a fitting start to an evening where nothing was as it seemed.
Upon entering, guests found themselves in a disorienting maze of black ribbons, meant to mimic cobwebs, making it a psychological challenge, designed to immerse the guests in a world where logic and reason had no place. If they became lost, they could call for a “cat” to help them—a servant dressed in full feline attire, who would paw and purr as they guided the guests through the maze.
Inside, the main hall of the chateau had been transformed into a wonderland. The tables were set with fur-covered plates, taxidermied animals served as centerpieces, and one table featured a mannequin’s corpse, eerily laid out as if asleep on a bed of roses. Even the cutlery was unconventional—forks were replaced with dead fish, and guests were encouraged to eat from the lifeless figure on the table.
Among the best dressed was Marie-Hélène herself who made a grand entrance, wearing a giant stag’s head adorned with real diamond tears, and none other than Audrey Hepburn who arrived with a birdcage on her head, inside of which real birds fluttered. The costumes worn by the guests were as elaborate and imaginative as the setting, each one a tribute to the surrealist movement that inspired the event.
Brigitte Bardot and Leonor Fini preparing for the ball
Within the Ball, every detail, from the invitations to the costumes to the decorations, was meticulously planned to create a night that would blur the lines between reality and fantasy. Salvador Dalí, a close friend of Marie-Hélène and a key figure in the movement, was involved in designing many of the costumes, though he himself chose not to wear one, instead embodying the surreal simply by being there.
The night was also filled with references to famous works of art and literature. Guests paid homage to everything from Magritte’s “The Son of Man” to Titian’s “Allegory of Prudence,” weaving a rich tapestry of cultural references that only the most discerning eyes would catch.
Though the Surrealist Ball was a one-night event, its impact has been long-lasting and will remain in the history books for some time.
The chateau, which once echoed with the laughter and whispers of the night’s guests, now serves a different purpose, having been donated to the chancellery of the universities of Paris. But the memory of that December night in 1972 lingers on, a testament to the Rothschilds’ flair for the extraordinary and their ability to turn even the most fleeting of moments into something timeless.
The Surrealist Ball remains a symbol of an era when the world’s elite could indulge in the wildest flights of fancy, where the only limit was the imagination.