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Lot Essay
THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH A PHOTO CERTIFICATE BY SAMY KINGE.
VICTOR BRAUNER PAINTED INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE AROUND 1934, AT THE TIME THAT HE WAS BEING WELCOMED INTO THE HEART OF THE SURREALISTS. BRAUNER, A ROMANIAN-BORN ARTIST BASED BY THIS TIME IN PARIS, HAD LONG HAD AN INTEREST AND INVOLVEMENT WITH SURREALISM, BRINGING A SENSE OF HIS OWN NATIVE FOLK ICONOGRAPHY AND A DARK ATMOSPHERE OF MYSTERY TO HIS PICTURES, BUT IT WAS ONLY FOLLOWING HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE VIèME SALON DES SURINDéPENDANTS IN 1933 THAT HE CAME TO THE NOTICE OF THE CORE GROUP AND IN PARTICULAR OF ANDRé BRETON, WHO ADMIRED HIS CONTRIBUTION. IT WAS THE PAINTER YVES TANGUY, WHOSE STUDIO WAS IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THAT OF BRAUNER (AND INDEED OF ALBERTO GIACOMETTI) WHO BROKERED THE INTRODUCTION, AND WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME, HE WAS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN A RANGE OF SURREAL PROJECTS. IT WAS ONLY SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, DURING THE PERIOD THAT INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN PAINTED, THAT BRAUNER WAS GRANTED HIS FIRST ONE-MAN EXHIBITION AT THE GALERIE PIERRE, RUN BY PIERRE LOEB, A MARK OF HIS INCREASING RECOGNITION.
IN INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE, A SHROUDED, ANTHROPOMORPHIC CHIMERA DOMINATES THE COMPOSITION. THROUGH THE TEARS IN THE CLOAK A COMBINATION OF ORGANIC MATTER, WOOD, PLANT MATERIAL AND EVEN COGS AND MACHINERY ARE VISIBLE, IMPLYING THAT THIS IS SOME SORT OF FLESH MACHINE. THE WHEELS AND INSTRUMENTS RECALL THE PAINTINGS OF GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, WHO HAD BEEN SUCH A TOUCHSTONE TO THE SURREALISTS, AS DOES THE SENSE OF SPACE AND SHADOW. HOWEVER, THIS FIGURE, WITH ITS HORN-LIKE BEAK, APPEARS VERY MUCH A CREATION OF BRAUNER'S INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION. THIS METALLIC PROBOSCIS MAY BE THE INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE OF THE TITLE, A MEASURING DEVICE. AT THE SAME TIME, THAT SPACE HAS BEEN EMPHASISED BY THE TILED FLOORING THAT BRAUNER HAS PAINTED. HOWEVER, INSTEAD OF ADHERING TO MATHEMATICAL PERSPECTIVE, BRAUNER HAS DELIBERATELY ENSURED THAT THE TILES APPEAR TO LURCH AND CURVE, INDUCING A SENSE OF VERTIGINOUS DISORIENTATION THAT HEIGHTENS THE STRANGENESS OF THE SCENE. THIS IS AUGMENTED BY THE PRESENCE OF A HAIR-COVERED ARTICLE PARTLY OCCLUDED BY THE WALL, ANOTHER ORGANISM THAT APPEARS TO TEETER ON THE BRINK OF ANIMAL AND VEGETAL AND THAT APPEARS TO HAVE ITS ROOTS IN THE SHIFTING SUBCONSCIOUS.
VICTOR BRAUNER PAINTED INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE AROUND 1934, AT THE TIME THAT HE WAS BEING WELCOMED INTO THE HEART OF THE SURREALISTS. BRAUNER, A ROMANIAN-BORN ARTIST BASED BY THIS TIME IN PARIS, HAD LONG HAD AN INTEREST AND INVOLVEMENT WITH SURREALISM, BRINGING A SENSE OF HIS OWN NATIVE FOLK ICONOGRAPHY AND A DARK ATMOSPHERE OF MYSTERY TO HIS PICTURES, BUT IT WAS ONLY FOLLOWING HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE VIèME SALON DES SURINDéPENDANTS IN 1933 THAT HE CAME TO THE NOTICE OF THE CORE GROUP AND IN PARTICULAR OF ANDRé BRETON, WHO ADMIRED HIS CONTRIBUTION. IT WAS THE PAINTER YVES TANGUY, WHOSE STUDIO WAS IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THAT OF BRAUNER (AND INDEED OF ALBERTO GIACOMETTI) WHO BROKERED THE INTRODUCTION, AND WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME, HE WAS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN A RANGE OF SURREAL PROJECTS. IT WAS ONLY SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, DURING THE PERIOD THAT INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN PAINTED, THAT BRAUNER WAS GRANTED HIS FIRST ONE-MAN EXHIBITION AT THE GALERIE PIERRE, RUN BY PIERRE LOEB, A MARK OF HIS INCREASING RECOGNITION.
IN INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE, A SHROUDED, ANTHROPOMORPHIC CHIMERA DOMINATES THE COMPOSITION. THROUGH THE TEARS IN THE CLOAK A COMBINATION OF ORGANIC MATTER, WOOD, PLANT MATERIAL AND EVEN COGS AND MACHINERY ARE VISIBLE, IMPLYING THAT THIS IS SOME SORT OF FLESH MACHINE. THE WHEELS AND INSTRUMENTS RECALL THE PAINTINGS OF GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, WHO HAD BEEN SUCH A TOUCHSTONE TO THE SURREALISTS, AS DOES THE SENSE OF SPACE AND SHADOW. HOWEVER, THIS FIGURE, WITH ITS HORN-LIKE BEAK, APPEARS VERY MUCH A CREATION OF BRAUNER'S INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION. THIS METALLIC PROBOSCIS MAY BE THE INDICATEUR DE L'ESPACE OF THE TITLE, A MEASURING DEVICE. AT THE SAME TIME, THAT SPACE HAS BEEN EMPHASISED BY THE TILED FLOORING THAT BRAUNER HAS PAINTED. HOWEVER, INSTEAD OF ADHERING TO MATHEMATICAL PERSPECTIVE, BRAUNER HAS DELIBERATELY ENSURED THAT THE TILES APPEAR TO LURCH AND CURVE, INDUCING A SENSE OF VERTIGINOUS DISORIENTATION THAT HEIGHTENS THE STRANGENESS OF THE SCENE. THIS IS AUGMENTED BY THE PRESENCE OF A HAIR-COVERED ARTICLE PARTLY OCCLUDED BY THE WALL, ANOTHER ORGANISM THAT APPEARS TO TEETER ON THE BRINK OF ANIMAL AND VEGETAL AND THAT APPEARS TO HAVE ITS ROOTS IN THE SHIFTING SUBCONSCIOUS.