Surrealism and the Occult. Shamanism, Magic, Alchemy, and the Birth of an Artistic Movement.
Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1992. First American edition. Softcover. Octavo, 134pp + color insert, b&w and color illustrations, bibliography and index. From publisher: "Surrealism did not establish itself in Britain until the 1930s but a select few felt something in the air. Almost ten years before the Surrealist experiments with automatic drawing, an obscure English artist, Austin Osman Spare had perfected the technique. Nadia Choucha shows, convincingly, that occult and surrealist philosophies were often interchangeable. Surrealism and the Occult is seminal reading for art historians and occultists alike, while artists will find it a vital guide to the unlocking of the imagination. The book shows how many Surrealists and their predecessors were steeped in magical ideas: Kandinsky, with his involvement with Theosophy, the sorcery of Salvador Dali; the alchemy of Pablo Picasso and the shamanism of Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington". Includes a chapter on Austin Osman Spare: "The Surrealist Manifestos - Automatism, and Austin Osman Spare". A bit of light shelfwear and dust, cover a bit curled at edges, price tag on rear cover - else a tight, unmarked VG copy. Item #63523
ISBN: 0892813733
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