Victor Brauner

Galerie Samy Kinge, Paris

Acquired from the above on July 7^th, 1994

Victor Victorios emerges from an exceptionally fruitful moment of Victor Brauner’s career, during a period of self-imposed exile spent at his friends Sylvie and Hans-Rudi Stauffacher's home in Switzerland in the spring of 1949. Forming part of his Onomatomania series, which is comprised of 37 paintings executed in 1949, Victor Victorios exemplifies, and perhaps even addresses directly, the ‘divisive activities’ that lead to his break with the Surrealist group, and most specifically, with André Breton a mere year before the work was executed.

Brauner 1940s and early 1950s works mark the apogee of personal and artistic freedom, introducing the artist’s exploration of the self, a central preoccupation of his varied and prolific œuvre. Marked by an early exposure to the occult through his father who regularly held séances and dabbled in the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, the eccentric character of Brauner's upbringing imbued in him a sense of non-conformism, resulting in a deeply personal and unique aesthetic that characterises Brauner’s work and sets him apart within the Surrealist milieu.  

Inspired by Marguerite-Albert Sechehay's La réalisation symbolique published in 1947, Brauner delved ever deeper into his rich inner world, transmuting his psyche onto his canvases. Encouraged by Sigmund Freud, Sechehay proposed a method of therapy which immersed patients in symbolic experiences that drew on shamanic symbols and rituals to heal their psychological wounds. This pioneering focus on healing the subconscious through symbolic actions rather than just speech was a sensation in psychoanalysis and artistic circles worldwide at the time. As Brauner explained, “The painting is an initiatory technique that pushes me into my secret and inner zones and makes me discover very important things in myself” (artist quoted in Alain Jouffroy, “Victor Brauner peint un tableau devant vous,” Connaissance des Arts, no. 107, January 1961, p. 88).

In Victor Victorios, an eclectic mix of dynamic elements and symbols merges into a dissonant yet coherent whole, producing the sensation of a narrative. The chimeric figure gazes at the viewer with a ferocious expression. Surrounding its form are whimsical human-like shapes evocative of enemies. Brauner gives form to the most elusive subject, the inner self. This deeply personal, chimeric figure emerges as a totem of Brauner’s psyche. More than an artistic experiment, Victor Victorios stands as a bold declaration of the artist’s independence from the Surrealist group and from Breton, who’s likeness is evoked by the character stepped on by the main figure, and his refusal to yield to external group pressures, a symbol of personal liberation and self-emancipation. The artist’s Victor is a figure of singularity, yet not of isolation; it reflects his youthful, free-spirited nature. In Brauner’s own words: “My painting is autobiographical. I tell my life story in it. My life is exemplary because it is universal” (artist quoted in Exh. Cat., Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Victor Brauner, 1972, p. 84). The artist, who had once identified as ‘Victor Victorel’ (‘Victor the Conqueror’), now claims the title ‘Victor Victorios’ (‘Victor the Victorious’): a powerful and transformative declaration emerging from the chiasms of the larger Surrealist movement.

Only four works from the prized Onomatomania series were previously offered in public sales. This work, arguably the most complete of this selection, has remained in the same family for over 30 years after it was acquired from the artist’s recognised expert, Samy Kinge’s Gallery.