Grotesque Figures by Victor Brauner

Image source: Pinterest: Preliminary Erotomagic, 1948. Oil on canvas, 1959

Victor Brauner was more than a painter — he was a visionary who transformed dreams, symbols, and premonitions into art. A key figure in the Romanian avant-garde and a surrealist movement with an uncanny ability to predict his own fate, Brauner's work remains as haunting today as when it was first created.

Born in 1903 in Piatra Neamț, Romania, Brauner's early years were shaped by his father’s fascination with spiritualism. He briefly studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest but soon abandoned academic conventions in favor of experimentation. He explored Dadaism, abstraction, and expressionism before co-founding the radical 75 HP magazine in Romania, a platform for avant-garde ideas.

In 1930, he moved to Paris, where he befriended modernist icons like Constantin Brâncuși, Yves Tanguy, and Alberto Giacometti. Introduced to the Surrealists by Tanguy, Brauner caught the attention of André Breton, who championed his first solo show in Paris in 1934. However, the exhibition was met with little success, prompting his return to Romania.

Image source: Pinterest: Victor Brauner - Firebird (Nietzschean Complex), 1959

As World War II loomed, Brauner fled to the south of France, later seeking refuge in Switzerland. Cut off from traditional materials, he invented new techniques using candle wax and graffiti-like carvings, demonstrating his resilience and creativity. After the war, he returned to Paris and delved deeper into esoteric imagery, incorporating symbols from Tarot, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Mesoamerican codices into his paintings.

Image source: Pinterest: Portrait of Victor Brauner in his studio, Paris, 1953

Brauner’s later years saw continued recognition—he exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1954 and again in 1966, the year of his death. Today, his work is celebrated for its grotesque figures, surreal storytelling, and prophetic depth. Buried in Montmartre Cemetery, his epitaph reads: “Painting is life, the real life, my life.”