Prelude to a Civilization represents a giant white animal in profile against a blue-and-green ground, within whose body are stylized renderings of some forty animals, figures, masks, and abstract symbols. Brauner may have based this composition on the pictographic robes of the Plains Indians. Such a robe—fashioned of animal hide—records its warrior-owner's exploits in decorative inscriptions covering the surface. Although the creatures Brauner depicts resemble Mexican codex illustrations, they also seem to be purely imaginative, and evoke the art of both Paul Klee and Max Ernst. Brauner executed this work in encaustic, a technique in which paint is mixed with molten wax. Into the resulting hardened surface, the artist incised the figures with pen and ink. He had first employed this medium after he was forced to take refuge from World War II in the Pyrenees and was unable to obtain his usual working materials. Here, the overall effect suggests an ancient cave painting.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): VICTOR BRAUNER / IIIx 1954
the artist, Paris (1954–59; sold in December 1959 through Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York to Gelman); Jacques and Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1959–his d. 1986); Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1986–d. 1998; her bequest to MMA)
Venice. French Pavilion. "XXVII Biennale," June 19–October 17, 1954, no. 42 (as "Preludio a una civiltà," lent by a private collection, Paris).
Paris. Galerie des "Cahiers d'Art". "Oeuvres récentes de Victor Brauner," May 10–June 10, 1955, no catalogue?
Arts Club of Chicago. "Surrealism, Then and Now," October 1–30, 1958, no. 7 (as "Prelude d'une civilisation," lent by Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage," March 27–June 9, 1968, no. 32 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico City).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage," July 16–September 8, 1968, no. 32.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage," October 19–December 8, 1968, no. 32.
Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse," April 10–May 11, 1975, no. 15 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico City).
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse," May 28–June 22, 1975, no. 15.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse," August 4–September 1, 1975, no. 15.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," December 12, 1989–April 1, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 267).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," April 19–July 15, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Mexico City. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo. "La Colección de Pintura Mexicana de Jacques y Natasha Gelman," June 23–October 11, 1992, not in catalogue.
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "De Matisse à Picasso: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman," June 18–November 1, 1994, unnumbered cat. (p. 291).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Surrealism Beyond Borders," October 11, 2021–January 30, 2022, not in catalogue.
Hubert Juin. "Qui va au-devant de la matière. À propos de l'exposition d'oeuvres récentes de Victor Brauner à la galerie des 'Cahiers d'art'." Cahiers d'art 1954, no. 2 (May 1955), p. 243, ill. pp. 239 (color), 243 (installation photo, Exh. Paris 1955).
Julián Gállego. "Crónica de Paris." Goya no. 8 (September–October 1955), pp. 132–33.
Franz Schulze. "Art News from Chicago." Art News 57 (October 1958), p. 45.
Dora Vallier. "Petite introduction à la peinture de Brauner." XXe Siècle 25, no. 22 (Christmas 1963), ill. p. 37, lists it in the collection of A. Iolas.
William S. Rubin. Dada and Surrealist Art. New York, 1968, p. 313, fig. 321.
William S. Rubin. Dada, Surrealism, and Their Heritage. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1968, pp. 136, 230, no. 32, fig. 200.
Rolf-Gunter Dienst. "Ausstellungen in New York." Das Kunstwerk 21 (April–May 1968), ill. p. 31, calls it "Prelude to Civilization".
Dominique Bozo. Victor Brauner. Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne. Paris, 1972, pp. 3, 105, 117.
Bernice Rose inModern Masters: Manet to Matisse. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. New York, 1975, pp. 200, 262, no. 15, ill. pp. 31 (color), 201.
Hans Gercke. "Das Tier in der Kunst unseres Jahrhunderts." Das Kunstwerk 33, no. 4 (1980), ill. p. 19, calls it "Prelude to Civilization".
Evan Maurer in"Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern. Ed. William Rubin. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1984, vol. 2, p. 577, ill. p. 584.
Giulio Urbinati, ed. Victor Brauner: Miti, presagi, simboli. Opere dal 1929 al 1965. Exh. cat., Villa Malpensata. Lugano, 1985, p. 119.
Sabine Rewald inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 266–68, 296, ill. (color and bw).
William S. Lieberman inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, p. 15.
Susan Davidson inVictor Brauner: Surrealist Hieroglyphs. Exh. cat., Menil Collection. Houston, 2001, pp. 15, 17 n. 25, colorpl. 68, fig. 111 (installation photo, Exh. Paris 1955).
Margaret Montagne inVictor Brauner: Surrealist Hieroglyphs. Exh. cat., Menil Collection. Houston, 2001, p. 48.
Camille Morando. "Hubert Juin." Victor Brauner écrits et correspondances 1938–1948. Les archives de Victor Brauner au Musée national d'art moderne. Ed. Camille Morando and Sylvie Patry. Paris, 2005, p. 207.
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