Magic Realism | Art Story and Sitemap

Magic Realism, also sometimes called fantastic realism, is a genre that blends realistic depictions of the everyday world with elements of fantasy, myth, or the surreal.

It's not merely about adding monsters or fantastical creatures into a realistic scene.

It's more nuanced than that. It's about portraying the ordinary with an air of mystery, strangeness, and sometimes a subtle political or social commentary.

The "magic" isn't explicitly explained; it's accepted as part of the natural order within the artwork's world.

Giorgio de Chirico

Citazioni di Giorgio De Chirico

• "Un'opera d'arte per divenire immortale deve sempre superare i limiti dell'umano senza preoccuparsi né del buon senso né della logica".

• "L'arte deve creare sensazioni sconosciute in passato; spogliare l'arte dal comune e dall'accettato... sopprimere completamente l'uomo quale guida o come mezzo per esprimere dei simboli, delle sensazioni, dei pensieri, liberare la pittura una volta per tutte dall'antropomorfismo... vedere ogni cosa, anche l'uomo, nella sua qualità di cosa.".

Frida Kahlo | You rain on me - I sky you, | Tu mi piovi, Io ti cielo, 1947

You rain on me - I sky you

You’re the fineness, childhood,

life - my love - little boy - old man

mother and center - blue - tender-

ness - I hand you my

universe and you live me

It is you whom I love today.

- I love you with all my loves

Frida Kahlo: “Vorrei essere ciò che ho voglia di essere”

Vorrei poter fare tutto ciò che mi piace dietro il sipario della "follia".

Allora: disporrei fiori, tutto il giorno,

dipingerei; dolore, amore e tenerezza,

riderei quanto mi pare della stupidità degli altri, e tutti direbbero: "Poverina, è pazza!"

Yana Movchan, 1971 | Magic Realism painter

Ukrainian-born Canadian painter Yanina (Yana) Movchan was born in Kiev.

Yana’s sublime mastery of the technique and structure of Renaissance painting combines with the instinctive symbolism of "magical realism" to create a personal neo-realist idiom.

Her work is formal, yet playful; contemporary, yet timeless; and joyous, yet mysterious, evocative and dreamlike.

Rob Gonsalves | Magic realism painter

Robert "Rob" Gonsalves (1959-2017) was an award winning Canadian painter of magic realism -surrealism.

He produces original works, limited edition prints and illustrations for his own books.

Ricardo Celma, 1975 | Magical realism painter

Ricardo Celma is considered one of the greatest references of contemporary realism.

His work has a mix of influences, are present the elements of Baroque, Flemish painting, Magical realism and hyperrealism.

Ricardo Celma was born in Buenos Aires.

His artistic vocation showed up at the early age of 5 when he started attending to an art workshop and he continued to do so for 20 years.

Vytautas Laisonas, 1965 | Magic Realism painter

Lithuanian painter Vytautas Laisonas, born in the village Skrėbiškis-Biržai district, is a member of Lithuania Folk Art Gild since 1991.

His childhood in the countryside has left a lasting mark on his perspective, compelling him to capture the tranquil beauty and subtle variety of the natural world in his art.

Observing Laisonas’ paintings, one can clearly see his appreciation for the pristine perfection of untouched landscapes, which frequently reflect memories from his early years.

Marco Busoni, 1962 | Magic Realism painter

Born in Milan, Marco Busoni, at the age of 11 he discovered the paintings of French Impressionists, in particular the works of Claude Monet awake in him the passion for painting.

He degree in aeronautical engineering and in the following year he attended at the drawing and painting lessons the “Bergognone” school of Lodi.

Remedios Varo | Surrealist painter

Remedios Varo’s paintings combine Surrealist influences with a distinctive style that evokes mystical or eerie adventures.

She had a life philosophy of non-conformity and a personal story marked by dislocation and tumult.

During her childhood in Spain, Varo was influenced by her engineer father, who taught her to draw, and her strict Catholic schooling, against which she rebelled.

Leonora Carrington | Surrealist painter

Leonora Carrington, (1917-2011), British-born Mexican Surrealist artist and writer, known for her haunting, autobiographical, somewhat inscrutable paintings that incorporate images of sorcery, metamorphosis, alchemy and the occult.

Carrington was raised in a wealthy Roman Catholic family on a large estate called Crookhey Hall.

I sogni magici di Tomasz Kopera, 1976

Tomasz "Alen" Kopera è un pittore Polacco, rappresentante del Realismo Magico.

Laureato in ingegneria civile presso l'Università di Scienza e Tecnologia di Breslavia, nel 2005 si è trasferito in Irlanda del Nord, dove ha vissuto e lavorato per oltre un decennio.

Attualmente vive in Polonia.

Il suo talento artistico si manifesta fin dalla prima infanzia.

Yarek Godfrey | Magic realism painter

Yarek Gofrey (real name Jaroslaw Pawel Nowicki, Olsztyn, Poland 1957 - Paris, 2014) was a Polish artist of French, British and Austrian origins.

In 1982 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow and the Studies for Stage Costume design for theater in Cracow.

In 1983 he moved to Paris, where he lived until his death in 2014.

Leonard Cohen / Michael Parkes | Questo è per te.../ This is for you

Questo è per te

è il mio intero cuore

è il libro che ti avrei letto

quando fossimo stati vecchi

Adesso sono un'ombra

Sono senza pace come un impero

Michael Parkes

Edward Hopper at the Whitney Museum

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was a keen observer of the everyday, which he transformed through his imagination into works of art that bear his signature tense, enigmatic atmospheres.

A reflective and individualistic man, he was deeply attuned to the relationship of the self to the world, and his works increasingly focused on the psychological realities of his subjects.

Hopper was frequently inspired by the two locations in which he spent most of his time: downtown New York, where he lived and worked in the same apartment on Washington Square from 1913 until his death in 1967; and Cape Cod, where, beginning in 1934, he maintained a second home and studio.

Maki Horanai, 1977 | Magic realism painter

Born in Japan, Maki Horanai 洞内麻希 moved to Australia from Japan in 2005 and has had 18 solo exhibitions in various cities throughout Australia.

She grew up in small seaside villages in Hokkaido, northern Japan, where she often sat or played along the beach.

Maki's early influences were the ocean, the shore, the birds and islands she saw both in reality and in her imagination.

Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera | My night / La mia notte, 1939

Lettera di Frida Kahlo Diego Rivera,
Città del Messico, 12 settembre 1939
Mai spedita!

La mia notte mi strema.

Sa bene che mi manchi e tutta la sua oscurità non basta a nascondere quest’evidenza che brilla come una lama nel buio, la mia notte vorrebbe avere ali per volare fino a te, avvolgerti nel sonno e ricondurti a me.

Nel sonno mi sentiresti vicina e senza risvegliarti le tue braccia mi stringerebbero.

La mia notte non porta consiglio.

La mia notte pensa a te, come un sogno a occhi aperti.

La mia notte si intristisce e si perde.

Fantastic Art

Fantastic Art is a broad and loosely defined art genre.

It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period.

It can be characterised by subject matter - which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythical or folkloric subjects or events - and style, which is representational and naturalistic, rather than abstract - or in the case of magazine illustrations and similar, in the style of graphic novel art such as manga.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo | Summer

Louise Camille Fenne, 1972 | Magic realism painter

Louise Camille Fenne was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Having a Danish father and an English mother, she grew up and went to school in both Denmark and England.

Louise studied drawing in Aix-en Provence, France and at The Glyptotek, Copenhagen, before enrolling at The Florence Academy of Art in 1995, being intrigued by the possibility of studying traditional painting and drawing techniques.

Rosario de Velasco | Magic Realism painter

Rosario de Velasco Belausteguigoitia (Madrid, 1904 - Barcelona, 1991) Spanish painter.

Born in Madrid, in her early years she started an active painting career.

Pupil of Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza, developed a neo-traditional style imbued with Magic Realism.

Her favourite subjects were seascapes, portraits and landscapes.