In this essay the art critic José Geraldo Vieira differentiates between “fantastic art,” “oneiric art,” and “Surrealism,” attempting to defend the work of the Brazilian printmaker Marcelo Grassmann in his comparison with both “historical” and contemporary Surrealism. As distinct from Max Ernst’s distortions of reality, Joan Miró’s “childishness,” or Wolfgang Paalen’s “linear, morbid synthesis,” Vieira suggests that Grassmann’s work is closely aligned with Flemish printmaking tradition and imaginary figurations. Originally published in HABITAT magazine, the article was illustrated with Grassmann’s woodcut prints from the early 1950s, including Incubos e súcubos, Os reis magos, and Harpias.
[See other articles by the author in the ICAA digital archive, as follows: “A arte ‘ingênua’” (doc. no. 1110356); “Bienal, passarela de gênios” (doc. no. 1110907); “O contingente brasileiro na 3a Bienal de arte de São Paulo: preámbulo necessário” (doc. no. 1110833); “O dilema figuração-abstração” (doc. no. 1110841); “Exposição Nacional de Arte Concreta” (doc. no. 1087109); “Genaro de Carvalho” (doc. no. 1110697); “IV Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna” (doc. no. 1232311); “Livio Abramo e a macumba fluminense” (doc. no. 1110609); “Mário Cravo” (doc. no. 1110465); “Materiais insólitos, desde o dadaísmo até a pop-art” (doc. no. 1110837); and “Nas artes plásticas” (doc. no. 1110853)].