VICTOR BRAUNER (1903-1966)

With its enigmatic central figure, Sphère de la naissance II embodies Victor Brauner’s highly individual, polymorphous vision, which made his paintings some of the most striking explorations of archaic tradition and the occult within the Surrealist group. Brauner had left his homeland of Romania in 1930, and was drawn to the vibrant art world of in Paris. Here, he became deeply involved with the Dada and Surrealist review UNU, before formally joining the Surrealist movement in 1932. Raised by a father infatuated with spiritualism and mysticism, Brauner himself developed a deep interest in the occult, Kabbalistic art, mythology and magic, themes that he explored endlessly in his work. Forced to remain in France during the Second World War after his attempts to emigrate to America were foiled, his artistic vision continued to flourish despite a lack of traditional painterly materials. In Sphère de la naissance II, two hybrid, biomorphic creatures appear to swirl into being in a semi-translucent sphere, their bodies overlapping and blending together in a strange configuration that is accentuated by the soft, blurry effect of the artist’s brushwork. Using delicate lines of soft white pigment, Brauner sketches facial features into the surface of the sphere – a pair of eyes, a nose and mouth – transforming this Sphère de la naissance into a head, filled with such mysterious, unusual dreams.