Victor Brauner *
(Piatra Neamtz, Romania 1903–1966 Paris)
La substance du périssable, 1952, signed and dated, inscribed on the stretcher, verso, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm, framed
We would like to thank Samy Kinge for providing verbal confirmation regarding the authenticity of the work.
An authenticity certificate can be obtained from Samy Kinge (upon request and at the buyer’s expense).
Provenance:
Galleria L’Attico, Rome (label on the reverse)
L’Attico Esse Arte, Rome (label on the reverse)
European Private Collection
Exhibited:
Rome, Victor Brauner, L’Attico Esse Arte, 22 January – 19 March 1983, exhib. cat. no. 17 with ill.
An iconic work from Victor Brauner’s post-war production, this 1952 canvas titled La Substance du périssable represents an absolute pinnacle of his visionary cosmogony, where abstraction and magical figuration merge into a single, pulsing chromatic body.
The work presents itself as a hieratic apparition that seems to emerge from the depths of the earth, evoking an archaic and telluric dimension. Within it, one recognizes the echo of the primordial power found in the Oceanic masks so dear to the Surrealists; however, Brauner transfigures these references through a highly tactile and layered sensitivity that seems to already foreshadow the tensions of European Art Informel.
The pictorial surface is never neutral: it vibrates, ripples, and thickens into a language that is simultaneously symbolic and organic.
The central figure, dominated by magnetic and glassy eyes, asserts itself as a psychic totem - an entity suspended between the human and the "other-than-human." It condenses the theme of mutant identity, a cornerstone of Brauner’s research, in which the face becomes a site of metamorphosis and revelation. The expressive force recalls, in certain respects, the tormented portraits of Jean Dubuffet; yet, while a nearly brutal rawness prevails in the latter, Brauner maintains an aura of esoteric mystery-an oracular dimension that removes the figure from any purely psychological interpretation.
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(Piatra Neamtz, Romania 1903–1966 Paris)
La substance du périssable, 1952, signed and dated, inscribed on the stretcher, verso, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm, framed
We would like to thank Samy Kinge for providing verbal confirmation regarding the authenticity of the work.
An authenticity certificate can be obtained from Samy Kinge (upon request and at the buyer’s expense).
Provenance:
Galleria L’Attico, Rome (label on the reverse)
L’Attico Esse Arte, Rome (label on the reverse)
European Private Collection
Exhibited:
Rome, Victor Brauner, L’Attico Esse Arte, 22 January – 19 March 1983, exhib. cat. no. 17 with ill.
An iconic work from Victor Brauner’s post-war production, this 1952 canvas titled La Substance du périssable represents an absolute pinnacle of his visionary cosmogony, where abstraction and magical figuration merge into a single, pulsing chromatic body.
The work presents itself as a hieratic apparition that seems to emerge from the depths of the earth, evoking an archaic and telluric dimension. Within it, one recognizes the echo of the primordial power found in the Oceanic masks so dear to the Surrealists; however, Brauner transfigures these references through a highly tactile and layered sensitivity that seems to already foreshadow the tensions of European Art Informel.
The pictorial surface is never neutral: it vibrates, ripples, and thickens into a language that is simultaneously symbolic and organic.
The central figure, dominated by magnetic and glassy eyes, asserts itself as a psychic totem - an entity suspended between the human and the "other-than-human." It condenses the theme of mutant identity, a cornerstone of Brauner’s research, in which the face becomes a site of metamorphosis and revelation. The expressive force recalls, in certain respects, the tormented portraits of Jean Dubuffet; yet, while a nearly brutal rawness prevails in the latter, Brauner maintains an aura of esoteric mystery-an oracular dimension that removes the figure from any purely psychological interpretation.
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
