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
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