Victor Brauner battle of mediums
Victor BRAUNER (1903-1966)
"Battle of the mediums" Oil and wax on canvas, mounted on panel 65 x 81 cm Signed lower right "Victor Brauner 1960"
About the artist
Victor Brauner, born June 15, 1903 in Piatra Neamț in Romania and died March 12, 1966 in Paris, is a French painter of Romanian origin. First Dadaist, then surrealist, and also an idealist communist, he is one of the members of the large community of Romanian artists and intellectuals in Paris. A first trip to Paris, in 1925, introduced him to Giorgio De Chirico and the surrealists. But it was not until 1932, settled in Paris, that he made contact with them thanks to Yves Tanguy. He begins a series of paintings around the symbol of the enucleated eye (Salomé). His self-portrait (Self-portrait 1931) can be interpreted as a premonition of the loss of his eye seven years later. In October and November 1933, he participated in the 6th Salon des surindépendants in the company of members of the surrealist group. In 1934 his first Parisian exhibition took place at the Pierre gallery. André Breton prefaces the catalog: "Desire and fear preside par excellence in the game he leads with us, in the very disturbing visual circle where apparition struggles twilight with appearance".