Esoteric Secrets: Surrealism and its Magical Beginnings

While we wait for the temporary exhibition, Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity, opening April 9, 2022, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents an online talk by Gražina Subelytė, curator of the exhibition.

Esoteric Secrets: Surrealism and its Magical Beginnings.

While the importance of dreams, the irrational, and the unconscious in Surrealism is well known, the themes and symbols related to magic, alchemy, and the occult were just as important. In his book L’Art magique (1957), the French poet André Breton defined Surrealism as the rediscovery of magic in the midst of a disenchanted and rationalized modernity. He placed Surrealism at the end of a long lineage of “magical art,” which included precursors such as Hieronymus Bosch, Hans Baldung Grien, Albrecht Dürer, and Francisco Goya, whose fantastic imagery fascinated the Surrealists. This talk establishes the relationship between Surrealism and Romanticism, Symbolism, Medieval and Northern Renaissance as well as Metaphysical art, introducing notions and symbols key to unlocking the magical meaning of Surrealist art.

PLEASE NOTE

• This is an online meeting on the Zoom platform.
• Participation is free upon registration, available on this page.
• The meeting is in Italian and lasts approx. 60 minutes, including a brief Q&A session.
• For further information didattica@guggenheim-venice.it