Painting is life, the real life, my life.
—Victor Brauner, epitaph on his grave in Paris
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The sculpted piece above is part, along with the quote above, of the Montmartre tomb of Victor Brauner, a Romanian Jewish painter/sculptor who lived from 1903 to 1966, spending most of his life in France. It depicts the heads he often portrayed in his Surrealistic paintings.
I can’t quite remember how I first came across the work of Brauner. I think it might have been in an article that had anti-Nazi art from the 1930’s. He had painted a couple of paintings in 1934 and 1935 during Hitler’s rise, one depicting a fantasy portrait of Hitler with his head being pierced with all sorts of implements. A knife in the eye , for example. The other depicted a German military figure standing atop a swastika that is crushing the bodies under it. Both are powerful propaganda images and are shown below.
But I stumbled across his other work apart from these images and they caught my attention on their own. They are surreal images that often have a Paul Klee-like mysticism in them that I am drawn to. Maybe I also identify with something Brauner once wrote in his notebooks: Each painting that I make is projected from the deepest sources of my anxiety…
Whatever the case, I find them interesting, something more to delve into. Take a look.
“Prelude to a Civilization” reminds me of your archeology series. And I can see the Klee-like references.
I hadn’t thought of a connection to the Archaeology series but I do see it now. But I think the Klee similarities are what really drew me to his work.
New to me. Thanks! I always enjoy your blogs. They are always so informative and/or moving. Wishing you are very merry Holiday season!
Jackie
http://jacquelinesatterlee.com (art) http://jackiesatterlee.com (fiber arts)
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Thanks, Jackie. And best wishes to you for a happy holiday!
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