13. Forms detaching the earth [1930's]

The work of Georges Papazov always arouses great interest from collectors and state museums. He is a recognized member of the international Paris School, along with the well-known Jules Pasquin. He did not have a systematic academic art education. He studied at the Engineering and Technical School for Architects and Park Builders in Prague from 1913 to 1918. In 1918, he attended a private painting school of Hans Hoffman in Munich. He lived in Berlin from 1921 to 1923, where he had his first contacts with great contemporary artists. In 1924, he settled in Paris. Papazov is one of the forerunners of abstract surrealism. He remains an unorganized member of the surrealist movement, although he is one of its forerunners and among its brightest representatives. In the early period of his work from 1924 to 1929, Papazov managed to create a peculiar imagery dictated by the artist's subconscious. He participated in the first group exhibitions of the Surrealists in Paris in 1925 along with Hans Arp, Max Ernst, Paul Klee, André Masson, Juan Miró and others. During the second period from 1930 to 1950 he worked with geometric shapes – triangles and cones, which are peculiar allegories of the human soul. In his mature work, the artist returned to figurative painting. His artistic heritage fits into the surrealist movement and has an innovative contribution to modern art. He is the author of six autobiographical books. Throughout his life, Georges Papazov remained strongly connected to Bulgaria, where he organized four solo exhibitions in 1919, 1928, 1934 and 1935. He died in Vence, France in 1972. The painting "Forms Breaking Away from the Earth" stylistically belongs to the second period of the author's work and more specifically to the beginning of the 1930s. This characteristic work is an abstract composition, entirely in the author's style. In the middle plan of the painting, on a brown platform, are three geometrized figures in dynamic movements resembling a dance. They are made of iridescent triangular fields and cones. The central and right figures are immersed in warm red and tiled ranges, and the left figure is in a cold green range with yellow accents. In the background on the left, the sea is visible, which marks the horizon line - the sea that Georges Papazov loves and often paints. The painting "Love on the Beach", created at approximately the same time - 1929 to 33, is emblematic. In terms of color, the painting "Composition" has all the characteristics of Georges Papazov's distinctive style - a contrast between warm and cold, placing the colored figures on a solid dark background. The dark blue sky, which occupies the entire upper half of the canvas. The night is the backdrop against which the surrealist action is dynamized. The lighting is directed at the objects that reflect the light with their smooth surfaces, forming colorful, iridescent triangular mirrors. The density of the terrain and the sky concentrates the composition and allows the colorful kinetic figures to lose their weight and fulfill their stage role on the seashore under the night sky in absolute weightlessness. The closest in colorful and stylistic terms is the composition "Forms Breaking Away from the Ground" 1934, from the collection of the National Gallery. The canvas "Forms Breaking Away from the Ground" includes some of the most characteristic elements of Georges Papazov's style, which makes it emblematic of the most representative part of his work. (S.N.)

Dimensions

width 60.5 cm, height 50 cm, custom 50 × 60,5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom right, in yellow, "papazoff"

Dating

1930's

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