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[ THE MYSTICAL ART OF
VICTOR BRAUNER ] by Mike Hovancsek Brauner was born in Romania in
1903. He inherited an intense
interest in spiritualism from his father.
As a teenager, he studied at an evangelical school in Brặila,
Romania, and developed an interest in both zoology and painting. Later, he studied for a short period of
time at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. He established himself early on when he designed sets for Oscar
Wilde’s “Salome” (1924), founded the Dadist magazine, “75 HP” with poet
Ilarie Voronca (1924), and contributed to two Surrealist publications (“Unu”;
1928-1931 and “Alge”; 1930-1933). In 1930 Brauner moved to
Vienna, where Yves Tanguy introduced him to the Surrealists. During this period he produced a series of
paintings that depicted strange animal hybrids, symbolic objects, and
twilight landscapes In 1934 a collection of Brauner’s work
was exhibited at The Galerie Pierre in Paris, with an introduction that was
written by André Breton. Brauner
immediately made a name for himself with a piece titled “Self-portrait With
Enucleated Eye”. In this painting, he
depicted himself with one eye crushed and with blood covering his cheek. In the following years, Brauner
continued his interest in mutilated and modified eyes. In 1937 he painted “The Last Journey”, in
which a man sits mournfully on a giant eye, while another man runs off with
an eye pinched between his fingers.
In the hole where the mournful man’s eye had been is a rod with the
letter “D” on it. A similar
instrument with the letter “D” on the handle is depicted piercing Brauner’s
eye in “Mediterranean Landscape” (1932) and “Magic of the Seashore”
(1935). When asked, Brauner said that he had
no idea why he painted these scenes of mutilated eyes, many of which were
self-portraits. His work was executed
with an intuitive abandon, the scenes loaded with the kind of random
symbolism that was common in Surrealist art.
It appeared that Brauner simply allowed his subconscious to express
itself, without censorship. Not only did Brauner’s self-portraits
predict that he would lose the eye, they even hinted at the person who was
responsible, as the letter “D” that appeared in the paintings is the first
letter in the name “Dominguez”. Stunned by his accidental prophecy, Brauner
described this incident as “the most important fact of my life.” He immediately began working on a “magic”
series of objects and paintings that exuded hallucinatory, obsessive
qualities. Having lost his depth
perception, his paintings took on a flat, one-dimensional quality. Other elements of Brauner’s work
changed after he went through this spiritual transformation. He began painting totemic images that were
influenced by the folk traditions of Tibet, Egypt, Mexico, and Native North American
art. His work also began to reflect
his interest in the occult, including magic, alchemy, Jungian psychology, and
the tarot. Inspired by the Jungian
archetypes, Brauner incorporated child symbols in his work, often depicting
his child-self wandering through an imaginary world, searching for maternal
comforts. Similarly, animals often
appeared in his work to represent man’s dual nature. As Brauner said, “I am reminding you that
all these animals are in you” (1962).
This duality was also expressed on many occasions with the use of
symmetry and repetition. “Agolo” (1949) embodies many of
these elements at the same time. This
totemic image is in severe profile, with the blind side (the side where
Brauner lost his eye) turned to the viewer.
According to an essay by M. Therese Southgate, MD, this may be an
expression of Brauner’s “shadow” or inner self, as he “sees” with his blind
side. Southgate further argues that
the pregnant form reveals the artist’s creative and nurturing side, while a
male foetus reveals his male side.
Again, this expresses the duality, or “yin and yang” of human nature. Brauner continued to use adversity to
his advantage throughout his life.
During WWII, he fled occupied France and took refuge in the
Alpes-de-Haute-Province, where paint and other conventional art supplies were
unavailable. During this period he
produced a series of innovate pieces with a collection of makeshift
materials, including wax, wood, and cardboard. He also began scratching images into paint and wax surfaces. These techniques lent themselves extremely
well to his interest in so-called “primitive” art and “art brut”. After breaking with the Surrealists in
1948, Brauner continued to borrow heavily from the occult and “primitive” art
until his death in 1966. His use of
symbolism and their connection to psychology are unmatched in the history of
art. Throughout his life, this
strange and brilliant man produced images that were both personal and
universal at the same time. As
Brauner explained in 1962, “…my life is exemplary because it is universal.” |
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