57. Fuchsiada ('Fuchs prefers to go out through one of his grandmother's ears, his mother having no good ear at all')

1914, Bucureşti - 2008, Paris

Estimate

EUR 600 - 900

Sold

EUR 1.400

Session

Thu, 14 December 2023 19:00

Retrieved from the Bucharest avant-garde of the 1930s, Jules Perahim would settle, after several attempts, in the midst of the Parisian artistic frenzy. Often associated with renowned names such as Victor Brauner, Gherasim Luca, Sașa Pană, Urmuz, or Gellu Naum, Perahim was a constant presence in the Romanian artistic circles which were following the echoes coming from Berlin, Prague, Paris, or Moscow. Although he never took over the 'surrealist' title, his work is the result par excellence of the influence of this artistic movement. The abstract continent of his imagination reveals, particularly in the second creative phase, partially humanised protagonists, who tend more towards the demineralisation typical of surrealism. In his works, we encounter phantasmagorical characters in a utopian universe. The ghosts with eccentric features are placed in an uncertain chronotype whose coordinates are known only to the author. The distortion of forms - juxtaposed or interconnected by compositional artifices - was to become a hallmark of the artist's graphic and pictorial approach. This work could be deciphered as a poster-illustration for Urmuz's homonymous poem; a 'heroic-erotic and musical poem in prose'. Literary pseudonym of Demetru Dem. Demetrescu-Buzău, Urmuz was Perahim's colleague, the two collaborating on magazines such as 'Alge' (Algae) and 'Unu' (One), and even working together on independent works. Jules Perahim has illustrated several of Urmuz's volumes, among which we mention his 'Almost... Futuristic Sketches and Short Stories'. Following the specific path of avant-garde writing, Urmuz outlines a veritable odyssey. 'Fuchsiada' tells the story of the protagonist Fuchs, from the moment of his birth - surprising and atypical (disappointed by his mother's lack of musical ear, our protagonist will prefer to appear in this world through his grandmother's ears). Endowed with a special talent, Fuchs will gradually assume the role of piano virtuoso and will undertake unusual journeys into obscure areas. There, he will delight the Vestals of Pleasure with sonatas and legato or staccato exercises. Possessing an undeniable talent, he wins over with his music the sea-born Venera, the goddess Venus, who will pierce him with Cupid's arrow and call him to Olympus for a night. Taking motifs from mythology and transposing them easily into an abstract area, Urmuz will win the admiration of Perahim who, as we can see, dedicates a work to Fuchsiade.

References

JAGUER, Edouard, 'Perahim', in 'Dada/Surrealism', no. 20, 2015, pp. 1-19.

Dimensions

width 61 cm, height 43 cm, custom 43 × 61 cm

Description

pen and ink on paper, signed bottom right, in pen and ink, 'Perahim'

PROVENANCE

Matei Perahim collection.

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