Victor Brauner: Self-portrait with a plucked eye, 1931

Victor Brauner (June 15, 1903 - March 12, 1966) was a Romanian Jewish painter, the brother of Harry Brauner (a known folklorist who was a political prisoner in Communist Romania, and who later married Lena Constante). [Please note: in some sources (such as certain Worldcat book and catalogue listings) this artist's first name is spelled Viktor.] Image File history File links Victor_Brauner_-_Autoportret2. ... Image File history File links Victor_Brauner_-_Autoportret2. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Anthem Zdrobite cătuÅŸe (1947 - 1953) Te slăvim Românie (1953 - 1968) Trei Culori (1968-1989) Capital Bucharest Language(s) Romanian Government Socialist republic Head of State  - 1947–1965 Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej  - 1965-1989 Nicolae CeauÅŸescu Legislature Marea Adunare NaÅ£ionalÇŽ Historical era Cold War  - Monarchy abolished... Lena Constante (June 18, 1909-November 2005) was a Romanian artist, essayist and memoirist, known for her work in stage design and tapestry. ... WorldCat is the worlds largest bibliographic database, the merged catalogs of over 50,000 OCLC member libraries in over 90 countries. ...

Early life

He was born in Piatra Neamţ, the son of a timber manufacturer who subsequently settled in Vienna with his family for a few years. It is there that young Victor attended elementary school. When his family returned to the country in 1914, he continued his studies at the Evangelical school in Brăila; he began to be interested in zoology in that period. County Status County capital Mayor Gheorghe Åžtefan, PLD, since 2004 Area 77. ... For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The word evangelicalism often refers to... County Status County capital Mayor Constantin Sever Cibu, National Liberal Party, since 2004 Area 33. ... Zoology (from Greek: ζῴον, zoion, animal; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ...

He attended the Art School in Bucharest (1919-1921) and H. Igiroşeanu's private school of painting. He visited Fălticeni and Balcic, and started painting landscapes in the manner of Paul Cézanne. Then, as he testified himself, he went through all the stages: "Dadaist, Abstractionist, Expressionist". County Suceava County Status Municipality Mayor Vasile Tofan, since 2004 Area 28. ... Balchik (Bulgarian: , Romanian: ) is a Black Sea coastal town in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. ... Cezanne redirects here. ... Dadaism or Dada is a post-World War I cultural movement in visual art as well as literature (mainly poetry), theatre and graphic design. ... Kazimir Malevich, Black square 1915 Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. ... On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ...

On September 26 1924, the Mozart Galleries in Bucharest hosted his first personal exhibition. In that period he met poet Ilarie Voronca, together with whom he founded the 15HP magazine. It was in this magazine that Brauner published the manifesto The Pictopoetry and the article The Surrationalism. He painted and exhibited Christ at the Cabaret (in the manner of George Grosz) and The Girl in the Factory (in the manner of Hodler). He participated to the Contimporanul exhibition in November 1924. Nickname: Motto: Patria si Dreptul Meu (My Country and My Right) Location of Bucharest within Romania (in red) Coordinates: , Country County Founded 1459 (first official record) Government  - Mayor Adriean Videanu Area  - City 228 km²  (88 sq mi)  - Metro 238 km² (91. ... A sketch by Robert Delaunay depicting Ilarie Voronca Ilarie Voronca (pen name of Eduard Marcus; December 31, 1903, Brăila—April 8, 1946, Paris) was a Romanian-French avant-garde poet and essayist of Jewish ethnicity. ... George Grosz (July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objectivity group, known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s. ... Ferdinand Hodler (March 14, 1853 – May 19, 1918) was one of the best-known Swiss painters of the 19th century. ... Contimporanul (antiquated spelling of the Romanian word for the Contemporary, singular masculine form) was a Romanian (initially a weekly and later a monthly) avant-garde literary magazine, published in Bucharest between June 1922 and 1932. ...

In 1925 he undertook his first journey to Paris, from where he returned in 1927. In the period 1928-1931 he was a contributor of the Unu magazine (an avant-garde periodical with Dadaist and Surrealist tendencies), which published reproductions of most of his paintings and graphic works: "clear drawings and portraits made by Victor Brauner to his friends, poets and writers" (Jaques Lessaigne - Painters I Knew). A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Max Ernst. ...

In 1930 he settled in Paris, where he met Constantin Brancusi, who instructed him in methods of art photography. In that same period he became a friend of the Romanian poet Benjamin Fondane and met Yves Tanguy, who would later introduce him to the circle of the Surrealists. He lived on Moulin Vert Street, in the same building as Alberto Giacometti and Tanguy. He painted Self-portrait with a plucked eye, a premonitory theme. Constantin Brancusi Constantin Brancusi (February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957, originally Constantin Brâncuşi IPA: ), was a Romanian sculptor, born in Hobiţa, Gorj, near Târgu Jiu, where he placed his sculptural ensemble with The Table of Silence, The Gate of the Kiss and The Endless Column. ... Fine art photography, or simply art photography, refers to high-quality archival photographic prints of pictures that are created to fulfill the creative vision of an individual professional. ... Benjamin Fondane (1898-1944) was a poet and literary critic. ... Indefinite Divisibility 1942 Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955) was a surrealist painter. ... Cat by Alberto Giacometti, 1954, Metropolitan Museum of Art Alberto Giacometti (October 10, 1901 – January 11, 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker. ...

In 1933, André Breton opened Brauner's first personal exhibition in Paris, at the Pierre Gallery. The theme of the eye was omnipresent: Mr. K's power of concentration and The strange case of Mr. K are paintings that Breton compared with Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi, "a huge, caricature-like satire of the bourgeoisie". André Breton André Breton (French IPA: ) (February 19, 1896 – September 28, 1966) was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist, and is best known as the main founder of surrealism. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (September 8, 1873 – November 1, 1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mothers side. ... Ubu Roi (King Ubu) is a play written by Alfred Jarry in 1896 that is widely acknowledged as a theatrical precursor to the Absurdist, Dada and Surrealist art movements. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In 1935 Brauner returned to Bucharest. He joined the ranks of the Romanian Communist Party for a short while, without a very firm conviction. On April 7, 1935, he opened a new personal exhibition at the Mozart Galleries. Saşa Pană wrote about it in his autobiographical novel Born in 02: PCR hammer and sickle symbol The Romanian Communist Party (Romanian: Partidul Comunist Român, PCR) was a Communist political party in Romania. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... A portrait of SaÅŸa Pană, by Victor Brauner SaÅŸa Pană (pen name of Alexandru Binder; August 8, 1902—August 22, 1981, born and died in Bucharest) was a Romanian Jewish avant-garde poet, novelist, and short story writer. ...

"April 7, 1935... An exhibition surrealist in character.

The catalogue shows 16 paintings; they are accompanied by verse, surrealist images that are exquisite by their bizarreness - they are perhaps the creations of automatic dictation and they certainly bear no connection to the painting itself. They are written in French, but their colorful taste is kept in their Romanian language translation. The exhibition brought about many interesting articles and takings of position regarding Surrealism in arts and literature". Romanian (limba română, IPA: ) is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people[1], primarily in Romania and Moldova. ...

Another remark about Brauner’s participation to Surrealist exhibitions: "Despite its appearance of abstract formula,… this trend is a point a transition to the art that is to come." (Dolfi Trost, in Rampa of April 14, 1935). In Cuvântul liber of April 20, 1935, Miron Radu Paraschivescu wrote in the article Victor Brauner’s exhibition: "In contrast to what one may see, for instance, in the neighboring exhibition halls, Victor Brauner’s painting means integration, an attitude that is a social one, as far as art allows it. For V. Brauner takes attitude through the very character and ideology of his art". On April 27, he created the illustrations for Gellu Naum’s poetry collections - The Incendiary Traveler and The Freedom to Sleep on the Forehead. Dolfi Trost was a Romanian surrealist poet and theorist, and the instigator of entopic graphomania. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 261 days remaining. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Gellu Naum (1915-2001) was a prominent Romanian Surrealist poet. ...

Exiles

In 1938 he returned to France. On August 28 he lost his left eye in a violent argument between Oscar Domínguez and Esteban Frances. Brauner attempted to protect Esteban and was hit by a glass thrown by Domínguez: the premonition became true. Oscar M. Domínguez (1906-1958) was a Spanish surrealist artist. ...

That same year, he met Jaqueline Abraham, who was to become his wife. He created a series of paintings called lycanthropic or sometimes chimeras. In folklore, lycanthropy is the ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a wolf. ... Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, ca 350-340 BCE (Musée du Louvre) In Greek mythology, the Chimera (Greek Χίμαιρα (Chímaira); Latin Chimaera) is a monstrous creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, which was made of the parts of multiple animals. ...

He left Paris during Nazi Germany's invasion of France in 1940, together with Pierre Malbille. He lived for a while in Perpignan, at Robert Rius', then at Cant-Blage, in the Eastern Pyrenees and at Saint Feliu d'Amont, where he was forcibly secluded. However, he kept in touch with the Surrealists that had taken refuge in Marseille. In 1941, he was granted the permission to settle in Marseille. Seriously ill, he was hospitalized at the "Paradis" clinic. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Perpignan (French: Perpignan, pronounced ; Catalan Perpinyà, pronounced ) is a commune and the préfecture (administrative capital city) of the Pyrénées-Orientales département in southern France. ... Pyrénées-Orientales (English: , Catalan: , Occitan: ) is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ... City flag Coat of arms Motto: By her great deeds, the city of Massilia shines Location Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Coordinates Administration Country Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (13) Subdivisions 16 arrondissements (in 8 secteurs) Intercommunality Urban Community of Marseille Provence M...

He painted Prelude to a civilization (now in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art). After the war, he took part to the Venice Biennale; he traveled to Italy. Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Elevation The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as the Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ... Detail of exhibition. ...

In 1959, he settled in the workshop on Lepic St. In 1961 he traveled to Italy again. In the same year, New York City's Bodley Gallery mounted a solo exhibition of Brauner's work. He settled in Varengeville in Normandy, where he spent most of his time working. The Bodley Gallery was a prominent art gallery in New York City from the 1940s through the 1980s. ... For other uses, see Normandy (disambiguation). ...

In 1965 he created an ensemble of object-paintings full of inventiveness and vivacity, grouped under the titles Mythologie and Fêtes des mères. The themes are connected to the mythology of the modern world, where man is depicted with humor, tenderness and pessimism, alienated by his new "mothers" - L’automoma and L'aeroplapa. Criticism or acceptance of this world, that once seemed "so terrifying" and in which "reality became an extremely harmful thing", but which actual life made more acceptable. It is undeniable that these paintings, made in Varengeville and in Athanor (1964), where Brauner retreated, are the visions full of humor and imagination of a future world that he wanted to leave to us as a gift. This Mythology includes the last foretelling painting, La fin et le debut (made in 1965), which reminds us that "when the painter's life ends, his work starts living" (Dominique Bozo in Le petit journal des grandes Expositions - Victor Brauner - au Musée National de l'Art moderne - Paris du 2 juin au 28 septembre 1977). For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... The Musée National dArt Moderne is an art museum in Paris, France, located within the Centre Georges Pompidou. ...

In 1966 he was chosen to represent France at the biannual exhibition in Venice, where an entire hall was dedicated to him.

He died in Paris as a result of a prolonged illness. The epitaph on his tomb from the Montmartre cemetery is a phrase from his notebooks: "Peindre, c'est la vie, la vraie vie, ma vie" ("Painting is life, the real life, my life"). Cimetière de Montmartre is a famous cemetery located at 37 Avenue Samson, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France. ...

The painter’s notebooks with private notes, which he handed to Max Pol Fouchet, partly enclose the "key" of his creation: "Each painting that I make is projected from the deepest sources of my anxiety..."

See also

• Bodley Gallery

The Bodley Gallery was a prominent art gallery in New York City from the 1940s through the 1980s. ...

External links

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Victor Brauner

• (Romanian)Victor Brauner biography
• Biography at Guggenheim Museum
• Biography at 3d-dali.com
• Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte - OPAC: German archive listing of 1961 New York solo exhibition catalogue: "Victor Brauner: paintings, encaustics, drawings; 1932 - 1959" / Bodley Gallery; New York, 1961.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art page on Brauner's "Prelude to a Civilization" (1954), part of the museum's permanent collection and continually on exhibit; page includes color image