Meeting Benches World art in all forms
The first messages, from the spirit world of the objects
KURT SELIGMANN 1/3 – He was a monumental figure within the Surrealist movement (especially in America). Born in Basel (Switzerland), his first employment as was in a local printer’s shop, where he was involved to apply color to pictures on glass. In 1918 he started to participate in exhibitions, and in 1919 he began studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, but his time at the Beaux-Arts ended when his father became ill. Using bold colors, enigmatic shapes and figures, he painted pictures of the irrational and scenes that you can only understand in dreams. You can admire some of his paintings in Paris http://www.bnf.fr/fr/acc/x.accueil.html at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
KURT SELIGMANN 2/3 – An exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel, was the impetus for him to revisit his artistic pursuits. After studying in Italy he moved to Paris, and his life was enriched by frequent visits to the Louvre and his reading of Freud’s lectures on psychoanalysis. Among those artists of the second generation of Surrealists, he has been largely neglected by art historians, although he was highly regarded in the 1930s and 40s. In 1934, he became a member of the Surrealist group, and his paintings developed into a combination of Surrealism and his Swiss heritage. You can admire some of his paintings in New York https://www.metmuseum.org/ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
KURT SELIGMANN 3/3 – In 1940, he and his wife moved to a farm in the small town of Sugar Loaf, New York where they had social interactions with his fellow surrealist colleagues. What concerned him was the quest for a synthesis of abstract and figurative modes, within the scope of pictorial concerns. The figures within his abstractions, that gradually had softened to organic forms of strong color, had interacting in sweeping curves. He purposely sought to find inspiration behind his intellect and reality, to invent new forms, from insight and fantasy. The city of Basel had an essential significance within his life and work. He died of an accidental gunshot wound, and his wife bequeathed his estate to the Orange County Citizens Foundation of Sugar Loaf, New York.
The intellectual property of the images that appear in this blog correspond to their authors. The sole purpose of this site, is to spread the knowledge of these artists and that other people enjoy their works. To pursue this issue, you can digit: https://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Seligmann/e/B000AQ6YQI
