A small painting attributed to Spanish artist Remedios Varo is one of the highlights of a 59-lot Impressionist and Modern Art auction to be held at Bonhams in London later this month. Presented alongside works by Salvidor Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico and Georges Rouault, Varo’s “Surrealist Composition” (collaborative painting)” (c. 1935) tells a deeply disturbing story of love, lust, violence and sexual autonomy with possible contributions from her lovers.
Raised and formally educated as an artist in Spain, Varo moved to Paris and was introduced to the surrealist circle of André Breton in the late 1930s, unofficially separating from her first husband, Gerardo Lizarraga, in pursuit of a polyamorous lifestyle. As a member of the Surrealist Circle, Varo’s practice became more collaborative – she was known for playing the “Exquisite Corpse» drawing game with the members of his group while embarking on his practice of painting. Her sexual agency became a hot topic: She was involved with other studio mates and band members, including a young Catalan artist named Esteban Francés (who was critical of her multiple partnerships despite her involvement) as well as the Spanish-born painter Tenerife Óscar Domínguez, who rose to his defense during an altercation with Francés during a studio party in Paris.
During the altercation, Domínguez tried to hit Francés with a drink but accidentally cut the eye by another artist present, Victor Brauner. This incident and the surrounding dynamic of Varo as a sexually liberated and strong-willed woman navigating a male-dominated sector of the art world largely inform her “Surrealist Composition (Collaborative Painting)”, with ambiguous contributions from Francés and Domínguez years before the fight. happened in 1938.
The painting has no clear narrative, but rather uncomfortably connected vignettes throughout the composition that are full of disturbing symbolism. In the work, a naked woman reclines on metal bars above a deep abyss while a clothed male figure on three legs holds reins connected to her nipples. A cloud of rain drips translucent white raindrops onto the woman as she is surrounded by figures with horribly altered bodies. In the lower right corner, a naked person in a fetal position is enclosed in a bubble emerging from a seashell.
The only legible signature is that of Domínguez in 1935, but Bonhams specialists have declared that the work is undoubtedly that of Varo according to the interpretation of the decapitated head of Gerardo Lizarraga in a box serving as his “metaphorical signature”. A closer reading shows that Francés’ signature had been twice removed or covered up on the painting, making the true attributions as well as the chronology of the painting more enigmatic.
“A possible reading is that the painting was started by Francés, but Domínguez or Varo (or both) reworked the entire composition, erasing his signatures,” the auction house’s essay offers. “Similarly, Francés could have revisited the painting and seen that his contributions had been altered so irrevocably that he found it necessary to erase any sign of his authorship. Perhaps he viewed his role in the band, or his position as Varo’s lover, as fleeting.
Shrouded in mystery in the hands of three influential early Surrealist artists, the painting is expected to fetch between £50,000-70,000 (~$62,000-$87,000) when it goes under the hammer on Monday April 20.
Related
For the past five decades, activist and photographer Claudia Andujar has worked with the Yanomami of the Amazon to defend their indigenous rights.
There are no common movements among artists in Chicago’s CLI-Fi Librarywith the exception of environmental grief as expressed through artistic creation.
“I’m not saying it’s a happy or pleasant face, but it has a unique look that’s fun to capture.”
Patron of the arts Myriam Ullens was shot dead outside her home in Belgium by her stepson, Nicolas Ullens, who cited an ongoing dispute over the structure of the family’s inheritance.
The recipients are small and medium-sized nonprofit arts organizations still recovering from low levels of funding during the pandemic.
In a statement, the Florida Department of Education said the famous nude statue “has artistic and historical value” and indeed can be displayed in classrooms.
Hey, is it a little stormy outside, or is it Tuesday already?
The position that Shear has defined in his work is one that accepts, contemplates and reinvents the possibilities of abstract painting.
