Victor Brauner

Vente : Sotheby's, Londres, 12 avril 1972, lot 53
Collection Madame Adami (probablement acquis lors de cette vente)
Acquis du précédent en 1973 par le propriétaire actuel

The canvas is not lined. The signature is apocryphal. A close examination reveals some light frame-rubbing along the edges and a small network of shrinkage in the black pigment towards the lower edge (as visible in the catalogue illustration). Examination under UV light reveals some tiny spots of fluorescence corresponding to a cluster of very light stains. There is no evidence of retouching visible under UV light. This work is in good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

oil on canvas. Painted circa 1932-34.

Peinte entre 1932 et 1934, cette Composition Surréaliste rassemble plusieurs éléments caractéristiques du vocabulaire plastique des premières compositions de Brauner. La figure sans traits distincts au premier plan annonce notamment la récurrente figure de Mr K, nouvel Ubu personnifiant chez Brauner le Mal politique et notamment les nouveaux dictateurs des années 1930. Derrière cette figure à la fois menaçante et risible, un animal doré, sorte de lion chimérique, symbolise l'évasion vers un ailleurs fantasmé : ciel, désert, démocratie ?  L'orageux ciel tournoyant n'est pas sans rappeler certaines compositions d'Ernst tandis que la théâtralisation extrême du décor planté en plein désert, murs sans toits structurés par les ombres portées, évoque évidemment l'ambiance de plusieurs tableaux de Dali ou de Chirico peints à la même époque. Au-delà de ces références au mouvement surréaliste dont Brauner était l'un des artistes phares, c'est déjà tout l'univers fantastique et emporté d'un Bacon que l'on reconnaît dans cette œuvre énigmatique et envoûtante (fig. 1).

Painted between 1932 and 1934, this Composition Surréaliste features several elements that are characteristic of the visual vocabulary of Brauner's early works. The featureless figure in the foreground notably foreshadows the figure of Mr K, a new Ubu who for Brauner personified political evil, particularly the new dictators of the 1930s. From behind this menacing yet absurd figure there emerges a golden animal, some kind of chimerical lion, symbolising escape to an imagined fantasy world: heaven, the desert, democracy?  The whirling stormy sky recalls certain compositions by Ernst while the stark theatricality of the decor placed in the middle of the desert, with shadowy walls without roofs, evokes the atmosphere of several contemporary paintings by Dali or by de Chirico. As well as these references to the Surrealist movement of which Brauner was one of the key artists, this enigmatic and bewitching picture also brings to mind the fantastical and impassioned universe of a Bacon.