Prelude to a Civilization

1954

Not on view

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.

Artwork Details

Title: Prelude to a Civilization
Artist: Victor Brauner (Romanian, Piatra Neamt 1903–1966 Paris)
Date: 1954
Medium: Encaustic and ink on Masonite
Dimensions: 51 in. × 79 3/4 in. (129.5 × 202.6 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998
Object Number: 1999.363.13
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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