Totem of Blessed Subjectivity II 1948

Victor Brauner made this painting, Totem of Blessed Subjectivity II, using oil on canvas. The way he layers these strange, organic forms, it's all about the process of building up a composition, not just depicting something. Look at the texture here, those smooth, almost fleshy colors against the dark, undefined background. The paint isn't trying to hide itself. You see the strokes, the layering. The colors, that pale pink against the almost toxic green, create this otherworldly, dreamlike space. And those sharp teeth, arranged so neatly...it’s hard to not see them as a metaphorical comment on digestion; of ideas, maybe. It's like Brauner is having a conversation with artists like Picabia, who reveled in the absurd. But unlike Picabia, Brauner seems more interested in a kind of personal mythology, a space where ambiguity isn't just a stylistic choice, but a way of seeing the world. It is what makes his work so compelling, so open to interpretation.