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Lot Essay
À l’époque où Desmond Morris réalise le présent tableau, il nourrit un double intérêt pour la zoologie et le surréalisme. Encore étudiant à la Birmingham University, l'artiste devient un membre actif du mouvement surréaliste britannique, nouant une relation étroite avec l'artiste espagnol Joan Miró, avec qui Morris organisera une exposition commune à Londres en 1950. À travers sa fascination pour les animaux, et notamment son travail de documentation novateur sur leur capacité à exprimer un sens esthétique, il apportera une contribution unique à l’histoire du mouvement surréaliste. Miró, qui cherche quant à lui à comprendre les origines de notre langage visuel, juge les études de Morris particulièrement pertinentes et les traduit subtilement dans ses formes et symboles primaires.
At the time that the present painting was executed, Desmond Morris was pursuing his dual interests in Zoology and in Surrealism. Whilst studying as an undergraduate at Birmingham University, Morris became an active member of the British surrealist group, forming a particularly close relationship with the Spanish artist Joan Miró with whom Morris would eventually hold a joint exhibition in London in 1950. It was Morris's interest in animals, and his pioneering work documenting their ability to make aesthetic statements, which defines his unique contribution to the history of the Surrealist movement. Miró especially found Morris's studies particularly relevant to his own interest in understanding the origins of our visual language, and refining this into its primary forms and symbols.
At the time that the present painting was executed, Desmond Morris was pursuing his dual interests in Zoology and in Surrealism. Whilst studying as an undergraduate at Birmingham University, Morris became an active member of the British surrealist group, forming a particularly close relationship with the Spanish artist Joan Miró with whom Morris would eventually hold a joint exhibition in London in 1950. It was Morris's interest in animals, and his pioneering work documenting their ability to make aesthetic statements, which defines his unique contribution to the history of the Surrealist movement. Miró especially found Morris's studies particularly relevant to his own interest in understanding the origins of our visual language, and refining this into its primary forms and symbols.