Private collection © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022
Leonor Fini Ends of the Earth, 1949 Oil on canvas 35 x 28 cm
Museum Barberini, Potsdam: »Surrealism and Magic. Enchanted Modernity«
It's a Kind of Magic
Surrealism is not only associated with illusory worlds and dream fantasies by die-hard art connoisseurs. The Museum Barberini in Potsdam is now conjuring up the touch of magic that is just as inherent in the style, starting on October 22: In the exhibition Surrealism and Magic. Enchanted Modernity, visitors will recognize what is often overlooked.
October 22, 2022
One could almost say that today's penchant for esotericism resembles Surrealism's interest in magic - the more modern the style seems today. After André Breton laid the foundation for what was then the leading avant-garde, followers from his circle cultivated a penchant for occult symbols, for portraits of magicians, seers, and alchemists. The exhibition Surrealism and Magic. Enchanted Modernism at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, starting October 22, is now the first to explore this zeal for magic and myth.
The museum »spans from the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico around 1915 to Max Ernst's iconic painting The Dressing of the Bride (1940) to the occult imagery in the late work of Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo.« For the exhibition, the museum borrowed true high-caliber works from Salvador Dalí to Dorothea Tanning from a total of 40 collections - including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The 90 works by more than 20 surrealists can be seen until January 29. 
© The Estate of Kay Sage / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022, Image: bpk, Berlin / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Kay Sage Tomorrow Is Never, 1955 Oil on canvas 96,2 x 136,8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1955
Dive deeper into the art world
Zurich: Art Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize »A New Gaze 5«
Jiajia Zhang Wins Photography Prize on the Theme »Switzerland 2084«
With her project And in 2084, You Are 62, artist Jiajia Zhang won the fifth edition of the Art Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize. The award is presented every two years and includes a solo exhibition at Bank Vontobel AG in Zurich, which opens on June 5.
June 04, 2026
Hamburg: 9th Triennial of Photography
»Alliance, Infinity, Love«
Featuring works by a total of 279 international artists, the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg showcases the diversity of the medium. Under the theme Alliance, Infinity, Love – in the Face of the Other, eleven exhibitions will open consecutively from June 4 to 6.
June 03, 2026
