He was also an essayist, poet, novelist, and art collector, He wrote the first fundamental essay on Marcel Duchamp[1] and remained close to the artists and poets of Surrealism.
For example, Lebel was the friend and advisor of André Breton and close to Max Ernst, Jacques Lacan, André Masson and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
Exiled to New York during the Second World War from 1940 to 1944, Lebel and his wife Nina lived in Greenwich Village on West 11th Street.
On his return to Paris, Lebel worked as an expert in classical paintings.
In 1950, he launched, with Patrick Waldberg, the magazine "Encyclopedic Da Costa" that was published by Jean Aubier.