I saw today’s Wordless Wednesday artwork for the first time when I went to NYC over the summer. I snapped a picture of the label to remember to look it up and write about it later. This is Prelude to a Civilization by Victor Brauner. Sorry for the small thumbnail; click the image to view it larger.
What do you think? Take a close look at all the imagery and designs. When I saw it for the first time, I assumed the artist would have some American Indian connections or even be Native American himself, because to me it looks like the colors, geometric patterns, and such that you would see on a Navajo blanket, a mask, or totem pole from the Northwest Coast Indians.
It turns out that Brauner was a Romanian Surrealist painter, but he was also fascinated with art from non-Western cultures. He owned both Native American and Oceanic artifacts. This painting contains stories and images from the artist’s imagination, but you can definitely tell his influences. You can read more about his painting on the Met Museum website.
These Wordless Wednesday posts keep getting less and less wordless. I probably should just start calling them just Wednesdays.
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