Victor BRAUNER (1903 - 1966) [ROMANIA/FRANCE] - Lot 33

Victor BRAUNER (1903 - 1966) [ROMANIA/FRANCE] Birds (Project for Anagogie), 1953 Mixed media (ink and encaustic) Signed and monogrammed lower left Dated XI 1953 on the right Dedicated to "Hélène and Claude Hersent, their friend Victor Brauner". Dimensions: 76 x 56.5 cm Provenance : -Ader-Tajan, Paris, 27/06/1994, lot 67. -Sotheby's, New York NY, USA, 11/13/1997, lot 466 -Hélène and Claude Hersent Collection -Françoise Tournié Collection -By descent to current owner -Exhibition : Didier Imbert Fine Art 1990, Victor BraunerAvenue Matignon, Paris, October 26-December 21, 1990 (exhibition no. 31) illustrated in catalog p.98. During the 1930s, Brauner painted canvases depicting enucleated figures. In August 1938, his eye was gouged out during a brawl involving the Surrealist painter Dominguez. From then on, he believed he had mediumistic powers. The artist's imaginary or mythical universe resonates with the thought and creations of ancient or primitive societies, from Pharaonic Egypt to the ancient Mayans. In his paintings, he illustrates his own psychic struggles through human-animal hybridizations, imaginations or nightmares, sometimes accompanied by unexpected humor, notably in the commentary that accompanies the works. Our painting belongs to the period following a painful period, that of the "Retracted". Brauner's work gradually calmed down and became populated with familiar or mythical animals that gradually evacuated the human figure. Some animals are inspired by the Mexican codex and the art of Paul Klee and Max Ernst. They may also have something to do with cave painting. The schematization of forms, the renunciation of depth effects and the vivid, pure colors are also related to the pictographic signs of traditional Plains Indian fabrics. L'Oiseau, a project for Anagogie, is executed in kerosene, a technique that foregoes depth effects, generates simplified forms and a strange, waxy materiality. Brauner had discovered this medium during the war, in 1943, when forced into hiding in the Basses-Alpes region of France, he found himself unable to obtain traditional painting materials. Here, Brauner elaborates a whole world of fantasy and wonder. Lot presented in collaboration with Artexpertise.fr