Page 54 - Studio International - October 1970
P. 54
The Belgian conventional methods in the execution of his
paintings were not necessarily theirs. However
contribution their acknowledgement of the profound
mysteries that Delvaux could evoke can be
to Surrealism judged from the poems dedicated to him by
Paul Eluard.
The Belgian Surrealist who became most
intimately connected with Britain was
E. L. T. Mesens. His arrival in London at the
time of the International Surrealist Exhibition
in the summer of 1936 and his subsequent
association with the newly founded surrealist
group was the origin of important links
between us and Belgian poets and painters.
Before the war his major contribution to this
liaison was the London Bulletin, a lively and
thoroughly international review edited by him.
Although his first ambitions led Mesens
towards music and poetry, he began very
early to experiment with collage, bringing into
play an ironical violence which has given way
in recent years to more mellow arrangements of
That Surrealism should have come to life colour and a humour which is less decisively
so promptly and with such exceptional black. He will be remembered for the
vigour in Brussels during the very years when provocation and the catalysing influence which
Breton established it in its initial form in Paris, gave an impetus to Surrealism, particularly in
and that it should have been greeted with the London, as well as for his poems and collages.
same revolutionary ardour and produced These three Surrealists of the heroic period
notable achievements throughout the decades of Surrealism, to whom we should add the
that followed was due not only to convictions name of Fritz van den Berghe, were not alone.
held in common with the Surrealists in Paris, They have been well surrounded and their
but also to the brilliance of a small group of influence intensified by a vigorous group of
Belgian poets and painters. They entered artists who have asserted themselves each in
eagerly into the search for a liberation of the their own domain. The brilliant and
imagination expressed in action, words and improbable wit of Marcel Marien has been
images, and they shared a desire to penetrate a stimulant to me for many years, just as I have
the mysteries, the marvels, the horrors and had many opportunities to enjoy the cryptic
the absurdities of life. talent of Raoul Ubac and relish the extravagant
But although Paris was easily accessible fantasy of Pierre Alechinsky. Without a
and there was constant interchange of ideas, break new names emerge in a new and even
the Belgian group produced the talent and greater diversity of achievement—for example
audacity that was necessary for it to remain there is, to quote Dore Ashton, 'the
independent. The creation of ideas, poems, profound and abiding experience of time' in
books, reviews flowed on, linked inevitably the inventions of Pol Bury. Yet in spite of
with the inventions of painters who in diversity these Post-Surrealists have a
their turn were known for their characteristic common origin and a common aim which is the
individuality. furtherance of the surrealist revolution and a
The stalwart presence of Magritte in more complete understanding of conscious
Brussels was of capital importance. His and subconscious life. q
contribution to Surrealism has been unique and ROLAND PENROSE
so powerful in its impact that his influence,
even in early days, was widely diffused among
surrealist painters. Yet his carefully considered Exegetes, si vous voulez y noir clair, rayez
method of creating images which trouble and le mot surréalisme.
delight us by their improbability, but which are Paul Nougé
also a version of truth, is in some ways a
contradiction of the search for complete Many years have gone by since the
spontaneity advocated by the Surrealists. publication, in 1924, of André Breton's' First
However the results he obtained were so Manifesto and Surrealism has become part of
strangely poetic that they were at once our visual education and of the public scene.
accepted as valid and important. If the first scandals now belong to history, it is
A similar individuality can be found in the nevertheless still difficult to deal with an as
work of Delvaux. There is no doubt that his contested and as changing a field as Surrealism.
world of dreams populated by professors, In bringing together, under the title of 'The
skeletons, tramcars and above all, beautiful, Belgian contribution to Surrealism', a selection
placid women is close to subconscious revelation of art works, we thought the venture worthwhile.
prized by the Surrealists and again his This exhibition does not pretend to bring
150