Auguste MAMBOUR (1896-1968) - Lot 210

Auguste MAMBOUR (1896-1968) Towards the abandoned fruit, ca. 1927 Oil on canvas Signed upper right 73 x 92.2 cm Appraiser: Cabinet Brame et Lorenceau The condition report is available on request from the following e-mail address: contact@neo-encheres.com NOTICE Auguste Mambour (1896-1968) was a Belgian artist who, over the course of his career, explored various artistic influences, from Expressionist art to Surrealism, before returning to Expressionism. His early work, marked by forms inspired by African art, shows his interest in stylized figures and primary motifs that reflect a search for the original and the organic. Through his encounters with the great figures of the Belgian avant-garde, Mambour gradually assimilated elements of abstraction, enabling him to create a unique pictorial language that, as early as 1926, heralded his turn towards Surrealism. Between 1926 and 1929, Mambour's Surrealist period was characterized by singular, provocative themes. He explored images of fragmented bodies, spectral shadows and ambiguous sexual forms, incorporating deeply psychological symbols that evoked the Freudian theories in vogue at the time. The rarity of his Surrealist works can be explained in part by the fact that he himself destroyed several of these canvases, probably out of a desire to disavow this work, which he later deemed transgressive or a dead end in his artistic research. Today, this gesture of destruction contributes to the mystery and value of the surviving works, representing one of the most enigmatic and sulphurous periods of his career. The work we have here is a perfect example of this dark, carnal surrealism. In it, Mambour depicts a giant phallus, a central figure that stands out from an organic environment, while a ghostly shadow floats by, creating a tension between the visible and the invisible, the erotic and the morbid. This subject denotes a fascination with the unconscious and the duality of human instincts, balanced between vital impulse and death force. The visual impact of this work is striking, reflecting a daring exploration of the human spirit, its deepest desires and buried terrors. Mambour's Surrealist period, though brief, reveals an aspect of his work where phallic symbols and enigmatic silhouettes become gateways to unsuspected psychic realities. This transitional phase, marked by a powerful emotional charge, left its mark on the history of Belgian art and places Mambour among the pioneers of a bold surrealism, exploring the frontiers of intimacy and abstraction.