Untitled (surreal landscape)

Hans Bellmer

A small Surrealist drawing by major German artist Hans Bellmer, done in 1969, the year of a major exhibition of his work at Galerie Anre-Francois Petit and the publishing of a catalogue raisonné of his etchings. As with much of his work, Bellmer synthesizes the human body within the boundaries of a surreal landscape. A creature lounges across the paper with a head made of two human feet - with the toes as ears - and its body appears carved out of rock, overgrown with foliage. A crescent moon hangs above its mountainous form. This drawing may have been done in the summer, while he was vacationing at his home in Ermenonville, northern France.

It would prove to be the last exhibition of his art before a major stroke rendered the left side of his body paralyzed. The stroke occurred in October of the same year, and he was unable to work without assistance, using collaborators to finish etchings and sculptures for future exhibitions.