Many writers consider Christian Schad the most significant Magic Realist of the Weimar era. After brief involvements with Cubism and Dada, Schad traveled twice to Italy, settling in Rome and Naples for several years, from 1922-25. During this period he studied firsthand the works on the Italian Masters, including Raphael and Agnolo Bronzino. In 1925 he moved his family to Vienna. Following his separation from his first wife Marcella in 1927, he moved to Berlin.
A study of Schad's paintings provides some insight into the artistic approaches of the Magic Realist. Many of his compositions are collage-style collections of memories, symbolic content and pictorial elements skillfully assembled into unified works of art. His background in photography is frequently evident by the cropping of background objects. Schad is always interested in revealing the persona of his subjects, but in a seemingly detached and unsentimental manner. His paintings always exhibit a refined detail and tonal control, derived from his study of the Old Masters. Yet his subject material is decidedly contemporary, and reveal his interest in the phenomenological aspects of life.
|
