Unexpected Journeys: The Art and Life of Remedios Varo"The adventures that fill the strange and wonderful paintings by Remedios Varo (1908-1963) reflect the physical and psychological journeys of her own tumultuous life. Raised in a strict Spanish family and rigorously trained in academic art, Varo first found escape in Barcelona's bohemian avant-garde. After fleeing the Spanish Civil War with the poet Benjamin Péret, later her husband, she entered the inner circle of the Surrealists in Paris. Forced to flee again by the Nazis, she and Péret faced a year of mounting danger in Marseilles before securing passage to Mexico. Finding welcome refuge in Mexico City, where she remained until her death, Varo produced the extraordinary paintings for which she gained renown. Janet A. Kaplan's vivid chronicle, the first on the subject in English, weaves Varo's life with the artist's exquisite work. Painted with a jewellike palette and old-master precision, Varo's intimate tableaus, rich with details of women's experience, tell fantasy tales of alchem, science, mysticism, and magic. Fifty color reproductions capture the wit and beauty of her major paintings; numerous black-and-white illustrations document other works and portray the compelling artist with her circle of lifelong friends and admirers. The book is further enlivened by her own voice, conveyed in hilarious letters and surreal stories, published here for the first time. An instant celebrity in Mexico--where her retrospectives have drawn record crowds--Varo has recently found enthusiastic audiences in Europe and the Americas. A woman of intense magnetism and powerful imagination, Varo has been little known outside Mexico. The fascinating story of her life and dazzling intricacy of her art will prove a revelation."--Front flap of book jacket. |
Contents
Introduction | 7 |
Toward Surrealism | 35 |
Among the Surrealists | 55 |
Copyright | |
3 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
Academia André Breton Arte Moderno Barcelona Bellas Artes Benjamin Péret Bosch Buñuel characters Chirico Collage color costume created creative culture depicted developed drawing Esteban Francés Excelsior Mexico City Exhibition catalog explored exquisite corpse fantasy female figure France French Surrealist Frida Kahlo friends Galería García Gerardo Lizarraga Gerszo girl Gruen archive Gunther Gerszo handwritten Homo Rodans imagery included interview with author Jacques Hérold January José later Leonora Carrington letter lived Luis Madrid magical Marcel Jean Marseilles Mexican Mexico City Museo de Arte Nicolle note to plate Novedades October offered Oil on canvas Oil on Masonite Oscar Dominguez painter Paris Pencil on paper photograph portrait Private collection Remedios Varo Rivera Rodans self-portrait similar sketchbook Spain spiritual story style supplement México Surrealism Surrealist movement technique tradition undated Uranga Varo and Péret Varo's Varo's paintings Victor Brauner walls Walter Gruen Wolfgang Paalen woman women artists York