L'animal Manuel 1943

Victor Brauner made this whatsit, 'L'animal Manuel,' at some point, but when? Who knows! I see an image constructed through flat planes of color, outlined with a steady hand. It's all about shape and juxtaposition. There's a tactile quality here despite the flatness. The textures are implied more than rendered; the muted palette almost hides the physical presence of the paint. It feels almost dreamlike. Look at the curious fish-like head with a human face, and the other figure with it’s own human head inside the fish's mouth; the tension between the figures is so weird and compelling. It reminds me of Philip Guston's later works, the way he embraced awkwardness and didn't shy away from a kind of raw, emotional honesty. Ultimately, this piece feels like an ongoing exploration of identity and the human condition, wrapped in a package of enigmatic symbolism. It embraces the strange and revels in the unresolved. And that's what makes it so fascinating.