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DespitethefactthattheywereusingsimilarpaintingtechniquesastheOld
Masters,theydidnottakeupthesamesubjects.Theymainlypaintedpor-
traits,stilllifesandscenesfromeverydaylife,oftennaturalisticorsocially
critical,sometimeswithdreamlikeelements.Thustheyclearlybelongedto
Modernism.Inhisarticle,MichaelCookprovesthatsomefeaturesofmag-
icalrealistpaintingscanbetracedinmuchearlierpiecesofart,forin-
stance,intheworksofHieronymusBosch,theauthorofTheGardenof
EarthlyDelightsandChristCarryingtheCross.Eventhoughhispaintings
areofreligiousconnotation,he“paintedwid(e)lyhallucinogenicimagery”
(Cook).Cookdrawsattentiontosuchnineteenth-centurySymbolistsas
OdilonRedonandGustaveMoreau,who“included‘Magicrealist’fantasy
elementsintheirwork”.CookalsomentionsthePre-Raphaelitebrother-
hood,withWilliamHolmanHunt,JohnEverettMillaisandDanteGabriel
Rossettiasitsmembers,artistswhoincorporatedoneiricelementsintheir
works.Pre-Raphaelitesusedtopaintrealisticworkswithsomehidden
messages.
Inhisessayfrom1925,FranzRohwroteabouttwentytwofactorsthat
definedthepaintingsofmagicrealism(Berger).InhislaterpaperGes-
chichtederDeutschenKunstvon1900biszurGegenwart(GermanArtin
theTwentiethCentury),writtenin1958,hecutthemtofifteenmainpoints
(Guenther35).Forhim,thenewpaintingswererepresentationalandre-
vealed“thespiritualandmagicalinanobjectbyfaithfullyportrayingits
visibilityandmakingitmorethanreal”,static,quiet,coldandsevere.In
contrasttoExpressionistpaintings,theywerecoveredwithathinpainted
surface.Theobjectswereclarifiedandtheworkswerenotonlyclose-ups,
butalsodistantviews.Thepresenceofaerialperspectivewasverylimited.
Thepaintingprocesswasnotcrucial,aswhatmatteredwereonlythepaint-
ingsthemselves(Berger).IreneGuenthersaysthat“over-exposed,isolated,
renderedfromanuncustomaryangle,thefamiliarbecameunusual,en-
dowedwithUnheimlichkeit(uncanniness)whichelicitedfearandwonder”
(36).Thismeansthatbyshowingrealisticobjectsfromadreamlikeper-
spective,theartistsachievedafeelingoftheuncanny.Inhisarticle,Berger
writesthat“Rohinsistedonaclarificationandpurificationofthepainted
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