Remedios Varo: Unexpected JourneysThe 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 Peret, later her husband, she entered the inner circle of the Surrealists in Paris. Forced to flee again by the Nazis, she and Peret 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. Painted with a jewel-like palette and old-master precision, Varo's intimate tableaux, rich with details of women's experience, tell fantasy tales of alchemy, 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, Asia, and the Americas. A retrospective of her work opens at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., in February 2000. |
From inside the book
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Page 124
... metaphorical process of psychic transformation . She knew that the Rube Goldbergian excess of the gadgetry was far from ... metaphor for her internal process of transformation . In the last work shown in her Mexican debut , Solar Music ...
... metaphorical process of psychic transformation . She knew that the Rube Goldbergian excess of the gadgetry was far from ... metaphor for her internal process of transformation . In the last work shown in her Mexican debut , Solar Music ...
Page 147
... journey through the layers of her psyche . Transforming the idea of travel from a forced necessity into a personal symbol , she developed the image 129. Visit to the Past , 1957. Pencil on paper 147 Journey as Metaphor.
... journey through the layers of her psyche . Transforming the idea of travel from a forced necessity into a personal symbol , she developed the image 129. Visit to the Past , 1957. Pencil on paper 147 Journey as Metaphor.
Page 169
... metaphor for the spiritual quest . This painting also exemplifies the contradictions inherent in much of Varo's work : no matter how intrepid , her travelers are rarely if ever free . Here the traveling outfit , while a wonderfully ...
... metaphor for the spiritual quest . This painting also exemplifies the contradictions inherent in much of Varo's work : no matter how intrepid , her travelers are rarely if ever free . Here the traveling outfit , while a wonderfully ...
Contents
ummut3k5 | 7 |
Toward Surrealism | 35 |
Among the Surrealists | 55 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
André Breton Arte Moderno Barcelona Barreda Bellas Artes Benjamin Péret Bosch Buñuel Chirico Collage color costume created creative culture depicted developed drawing Esteban Francés Excelsior Mexico City Exhibition catalog explored exquisite corpse female figure France French Surrealist Frida Kahlo friends Galería Gallery García Gerardo Lizarraga Gerszo girl Gruen archive Gunther Gerszo handwritten Homo Rodans imagery included interview with author Jacques Hérold José later Leonora Carrington letter lived Luis Madrid magical Marcel Jean Marseilles Masonite Mexican Mexico City Museo de Arte Nacional Nicolle note to plate Novedades Octavio Paz October Oil on canvas Oil on Masonite Oscar Dominguez painter Paris Pencil on paper photograph pintura plásticas portrait Private collection refugees Remedios Varo Rivera Rodans self-portrait sketchbook Spain Spanish spiritual story style Surrealism Surrealist movement technique Texts tradition University Uranga Varo and Péret Varo's Victor Brauner visual walls Walter Gruen Wolfgang Paalen woman Women Artists Xabier York