Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Antonio Saura
Life Story
Born in Huesca, Spain, Saura was self-taught as an artist. Between 1953 and 1955 he lived in Paris, where, influenced by late Surrealistic ideas, he developed automatist techniques. However, he quickly became disenchanted by the lack of control inherent in automatism, and, returning to Madrid, reduced his means and imagery to black and white and the human figure respectively.
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (no. 179 – the title is taken from a 1959 film directed by Alain Resnais) is a bitter comment on man’s abuse of his own intelligence. A wreck of a figure stands in the middle of a void, but whether the figure is to be pitied for its suffering, or congratulated on its survival, is by no means clear. In an annotated catalogue of prints of the same title produced in 1959 and 1961, Saura reiterated Goya’s dictum, ‘The sleep of reason produces monsters’ (Stadler, 1965).
Provenance
Acquired by the Sainsbury Family in 1966. Donated to the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia in 1973 as part of the original gift.
On display
Title/Description: Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Artist/Maker: Antonio Saura
Born: 1963
Object Type: Painting
Measurements: h. 1334 x w. 1651 mm
Accession Number: 23
Historic Period: 20th century
Production Place: France
Copyright: © Succession Antonio Saura. All rights reserved / A+V Agencie de Creadores Visuales
Credit Line: Donated by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, 1973