I'm a longtime Lovecraft fan who has recently been reading and researching a good deal of surrealistic artwork. And then today I discovered this painting called "El Abajorro" (The Bumblebee) by Esteban Frances, and immediately thought of Azathoth. The blind idiot god is said to reside at the "center of chaos" surrounded by his insane, musically-inclined minions, and the image seemed to resonate with that for me. Then I started connecting some dots, and realized that 1) Lovecraft published his stories in the years between the first and second World Wars, which is also the approximate golden age of Surrealism, and 2) Both are concerned with psychic phenomena (Freudian psychology was in vogue), dream worlds, irrationality, and the inherently fabricated, absurd, and fragile nature of human reality.
I'm certainly not claiming that the two have any direct association. Their cultural origins are far removed from one another (Providence / Paris), and Lovecraft's bleak worldview is at stark odds with Surrealism's optimistic ambitions to transform their world. I just thought it was interesting to consider their shared characteristics. Any thoughts from you fine people, or any other art pieces that you think bridge the gap?
I've always found pieces like this have screamed what H.P. was referring to with non-euclidean architecture and blood-freezing, anxiety riddled chaos. I think there are absolutely connections between everything you are talking about and Lovecraft's own mental state and work.
I'm a longtime Lovecraft fan who has recently been reading and researching a good deal of surrealistic artwork. And then today I discovered this painting called "El Abajorro" (The Bumblebee) by Esteban Frances, and immediately thought of Azathoth. The blind idiot god is said to reside at the "center of chaos" surrounded by his insane, musically-inclined minions, and the image seemed to resonate with that for me. Then I started connecting some dots, and realized that 1) Lovecraft published his stories in the years between the first and second World Wars, which is also the approximate golden age of Surrealism, and 2) Both are concerned with psychic phenomena (Freudian psychology was in vogue), dream worlds, irrationality, and the inherently fabricated, absurd, and fragile nature of human reality.
I'm certainly not claiming that the two have any direct association. Their cultural origins are far removed from one another (Providence / Paris), and Lovecraft's bleak worldview is at stark odds with Surrealism's optimistic ambitions to transform their world. I just thought it was interesting to consider their shared characteristics. Any thoughts from you fine people, or any other art pieces that you think bridge the gap?
I've always found pieces like this have screamed what H.P. was referring to with non-euclidean architecture and blood-freezing, anxiety riddled chaos. I think there are absolutely connections between everything you are talking about and Lovecraft's own mental state and work.
That's a cool way of connecting them.