Frederick Haucke , Surrealist Landscape, Mountain with Nude Woman - Perls Gallery Salvador Dali -, 1943

A nude white woman gazes out and over a Giorgio de Chirico like surrealist landscape to an overly dramatic sunset with stylized orange rays. In the center of the composition is a cut-out of a mountain with a moat. In the extreme foreground is a silhouetted orange plane with a spiral of leaves. Along with the empty landscapes of de Chirico, it's possible that Frederick Haucke was influenced by Salvador Dalí " The Persistence of Memory" in 1931 and Dali's painting was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1934. In that painting, Dali, paints a vacant landscape doted with symbols from the unconscious. This painting by Frederick Haucke owes a debt to giants of the Surrealist movement but still, Haucke carves out his style. The shape of the nude's hair echoes the shape of the sunset. What the symbolism to the mountain is and the flower in the foreground we will leave to the viewer to speculate. It was shown at the very prestigious Pearls Gallery in New York City. Artists in the famous Perls' stable included Derain, Dufy, Rouault, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Pascin, Soutine, Chagall and Vlaminck. With a 1971 retrospective of Alexander Calder's work. This Haucke from the Perls Gallery is signed and dated on verso. It was exhibited at The Saint Louis Art Museum in 1944. Framed Size - 39.5 x 45
Frederick Haucke, American, 1908–1960
Oil on Masonite
39.5 - 45 inches
US$50,000 Plus Shipping