One Century after its Birth… Surrealism Makes Impressive Comeback

Varieties

March 9th, 6:51am

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

A logo is pictured on Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Literary and artistic movement is enjoying another golden age, with international events and exhibitions. A century ago, in the ateliers of Montparnasse in Paris, surrealism was born from the gloom of the first world war that had engulfed and devastated Europe, according to The Guardian. The cultural movement led by the French writer and poet, André Breton, would give rise to artists of international renown including Max Ernst, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, and Salvador Dalí. There were women surrealists too, many of them dismissed as muses and too often remembered only in terms of their romantic relationships with the famous men but now recognized in their own right – among them Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Meret Oppenheim and Frida Kahlo. Today, under the shadow of a new European conflict, the literary and artistic movement is enjoying another golden age with international events and exhibitions including the first-ever auction dedicated to surrealist works in the city of its birth. The main attraction of the Sotheby’s sale ‘Surrealism and its Legacy’ will be a rare work by Cuban-born surrealist Francis Picabia from his ‘Nu de dos’ series never before seen at auction. The series is estimated at €8m (£6.5m). Thomas Bompard, vice-president of Sotheby’s France, said the artist is one of the underrated stars of surrealism. “I am meeting more and more people wanting us to source great works by Picabia and those showing the greatest interest are contemporary artists like [Jeff] Koons, [John] Baldessari, who inherited his legacy and who are grateful that Picabia paved the way for them,” he added. “Surrealism is almost 100 years old but to me it has never seemed so young. The creativity, the beauty, the artistry and artistic technique … the surrealists were looking for beauty, poetry, mystery and going into uncharted waters,” Bompard concluded.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3520276/one-century-after-its-birth%E2%80%A6-surrealism-makes-impressive-comeback