DAYS AS I LIKE THEM.......

I am sure we all have days, unexpected as they but when everything is ticket boo!!! I had more or less planned what I wanted to do and then did something quite different. Surrealism as art has never really been my cup of tea but the rain and wind started howling when I was in front of the Beaubourg. No umbrella would have stayed in place. The centre was opening so in I went. Up to the 6th floor in the lift and as those who intended (I suppose) to come up, did so by escalator and there I was alone again…..I can’t say that the advertising had really tempted me, but here we go.


I will let you guess who they are…….



Surrealism for me is Man Ray, Bellmer, Dali, Marcel Duchamp  and for what I have seen, paintings or objects really do not thrill me….we all know these……

Hans Bellmer " The Doll" 1933-36


Man Ray - La Femme 1920 - insulting to a woman?


Man Ray - The coat stand - 1920
and frankly, I have found it rather insulting that women could be associated with such objects……


Now I learn that Marcel Duchamp and Giorgio De Chirico invented two objects that became enduring currency in the imagination of the movement which began ten years later. These were the « bottle rack » and De Chirico’s mannequin, which of course is a signature for his work. It’s strange but it was Duchamp’s Ready Made an « object raised to the dignity of a work of art by the artist’s will alone" (Shorter dictionary of Surrealism) - which was communicative with other artists. 

L'Astronome - De Chirico 1918

"Bottle holder" Marcel Duchamp 1914
Man Ray - Lampshade 1919 - I did like this




Giacometti - Suspended Ball - 1930-31

 The great surprise though was Alberto Giacometti (the first surprise  anyway).  I didn’t know that he was actually a member of the group. When he joined the journal « Documents », (created by an art historian Carl Einstein and the philosopher Georges Bataille). His work, it was said, was  based on violent or sacrificial themes, which frankly I do not see in it at all. However, there was one room (very sombre) dedicated to his sculptures. I would not have associated them with Surrealism. I love his work, so lingered here for quite a while

The Giacometti room

Caresse - Giacometti 1932

Giacometti  "une femme qui marche" 1932

It was Dali who gave the initial definition to the movement when he called it «objects with a symbolic function » in 1931.






 
Giacometti - Table 1933


Giacometti - Table 1933

There were an increasing number of International Exhibitions of Surrealism even to the extent of some artists who were requested to dress « mannequins » which gave way to a number of Venus de Milo. 





 
Man Ray "Restored Venus " 1936/71

 
René Magritte


Dali - Venus du Milo with drawers 1936/44


The second world war drove the surrealists into exile. André Breton, Max Ernst, André Masson, Roberto Matta, Yves Tanguy and others moved to the States. The years that followed saw another generation of sculptures. Max Ernst, and now my second big surprise, Joan Miro and Alexandra Calder. These two met in 1932 which led to a wider form of creation - the « Apple Monster » in 1938 was undoubtedly a send up of the Surrealist’s fascination with monsters.

Calder Apple Monster 1938

Max Ernst  "The King Playing with the Queen"

Joan Miro - "personnage" 1956

Joan Miro "Tête Humaine" 1931





Picasso "Bull's Head" 1942
Then another surprise again, as Picasso is someone else I do not associate with Surrealism . Yet « The Bull’s head » was described as being one of the key protagonists of this process. 









Présence Panchounette - Remake 1986

 And many years later, another artist does this…..I wonder which one you prefer? 


 Naturally there were other "unknown" Picasso.....(for me....)
Picasso - Absinthe glass 1914

Picasso - Personnage 1936
Picasso - Venus de gaz - 1945
 Eroticism is not far away but many of those  objects I just find in bad taste. My eroticism has to be fantasy and not reality. I overheard a French woman explaining in a heavily accented English that "this" (see below) had been censored. Believe you me, it is mild versus some of the things I saw.






 
Salvador Dali  "Buste d'une femme" 1932


Dali Le Veston aphrodisiaque 1936/39

Withelm Freddie "Sex paralysappeal" 1936 (censored?)


So many surprises such as Oceanic or American native sculptures which were also included in this surrealist collection. 

20C. Kachina Doll Arizona USA
Coiffe de société de garade - before 1931 - Oceania


Coiffe de société de garade - 1962 - Oceania














And the movement continues with recent works and I guess will go on being developed with surrealistic objects today. 


 
Arnaud Labelle Rojoux "A la main du diable" 2013


Méret Oppenheim "My gouvernante" 1934 - well, not really recent!

Wolfgang Paalen -Articulated cloud 1937/40 - nor this




 
Philippe Mayaux - Reconstution  2000-2001


Ed Ruscha - I can't not do that 2012

Mona Hattoum - Hair necklace  1995
Arnaud Labelle Rojoux "A la main du diable" 2013

















 
Chléa - 2013

 Before going into the final room,  I saw a model watching a video. I overheard a man ask if he could sit next to her and he got quite a shock, moving behind very fast……
Chléa - 2013

Joan Miro was a delight. This is poetry. They are playful and a wonderful way to finish an exhibition. 



Miro - "Femme et oiseau" 1947

Miro - "Femme et oiseau" 1967

The gallery

Miro "Personnage au parapluie" 1931/31-1973

Miro "Femme et Oiseau" 1967

Miro "La caressse d'un oiseau" 1967

The gallery


 
Miro "Sa Majesté " 1967

There had been many surprises and good ones despite the immensity of the show. 


And as you are wondering where this is.....here you are .....


Victor Brauner - "Loup-Table" 1947

Victor Brauner - "Loup-Table" 1947

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