Animaux claniques hominisés 1961

Victor Brauner's 'Animaux claniques hominisés’ looks like it was built up from flat planes of ochre, blue and green. I imagine Brauner in his studio, working intuitively, adding layers, scraping them back, and letting the painting emerge through his imagination. I sympathize with the artist's struggle to give form to the unconscious. Those thick outlines of totemic animals, piled on top of one another, are so playful. The textures of the surfaces show the history of its making - I can see the brushstrokes, the way the paint has been dragged across the canvas. The bird at the bottom feels so alive, despite being so stylized. Its beak open, as if mid-song. Maybe that's what painting is – a song we sing to ourselves, a way of making sense of the world through colour, shape, and texture. Victor really lets his personal mythology emerge, echoing back to Miró or Klee. Artists build on one another’s visual language. I find this piece so raw and moving.