Magic Realism has emerged as one of the more intriguing art terms over the past few decades. What exactly is Magic Realism? A close look at German art of the Weimar period and reevaluations of the impact of the Surrealist movement on both European and American artists during the 1930s and 40s are important exercises in establishing a clear identity for Magic Realism as an art movement. Also important is to recognize that both style and content work together to create the "magic" in a Magic Realism painting.

          Many discussions about Magic Realism begin with historical references to the German writer Dr. Franz Roh and cite German art in the Weimar years as the source of this type of art. However, Weimar art was a mixed bag and an extensive review of this period is required to appreciate the complex dynamics that influenced German artists. Many artists transitioned between styles, adapting their approach as social, political and economic environments changed. Magic Realism can be identified in many paintings produced in Germany during this era, but it is difficult to maintain that a cohesive movement evolved. It is more accurate to describe Weimar art as a melting pot of styles which provided sporadic works of Magic Realism and which was connected to a broader movement outside Germany.

          Franz Roh coined the term Magic Realism in Nach-expressionsmus, magisher Realismus, Probleme der neuesten europaischer Malerei, published in 1925. In his book Roh carefully detailed the stylistic characteristics of a new art movement which he called Post-Expressionism, and contrasted them with Expressionism. He gave this new type of art the byname Magic Realism, in order to suggest what he considered its special evocative qualities. In June 1925, Gustav Hartlaub opened an exhibition Die Neue Sachlichkeit in Mannheim. Initially Roh and Hartlaub seemed to focus on similar art when first commenting on Post-Expressionism, an art that was moving away from both abstraction and emotionally charged imagery. Hartlaub initially emphasized that he saw a division of two separate wings within this type of art, a classically oriented right wing and a socially critical left one. Roh helped to organize the exhibition, but he avoided supporting Hartlaub's bipolar outlook. Roh felt instead that there was a singular movement away from Expressionism, which had many manifestations and which was also evident in other European countries. Hartlaub first tried to organize the exhibition in 1923 but hyperinflation made that impossible. In his second attempt of 1925, he downplayed the bipolar concept and emphasized that the exhibition was not promoting any particular style of art. Paintings from Socially Critical painters like Otto Dix and George Grosz were included, yet Hartlaub selected works that were neither controversial nor provocative. The exhibition received support in the press and made a profound impression on the public. Neue Sachlichkeit (The New Objectivity or New Sobriety) subsequently became a label applied by many writers when referring to typical styles of the Weimar period. Soon after a homogeneous style of Neue Sachlichkeit developed both in Germany and to an extent in other European countries. It became palatable to bourgeois tastes and which shed the last vestiges of Expressionism. Magic Realism, while sharing many similarities with Neue Sachlichkeit, developed as a disinct movement. evolving throughout Europe and the Americas in subsequent decades.

         A review of Hautlaub's Die Neue Sachlichkeit exhibition catalog reveals that almost half of paintings presented were produced by either Max Beckmann or by painters associated with Munich (Schrimpf, Kanoldt, Mense, Erbsloeh, Schulz-Matan and Daveringhausen). Franz Roh lived in Pasig, near Munich and saw the potential for Magic Realism in the work of its local artists. However, these artists dispersed by 1926, and Munich lost its importance as a major art center. Meanwhile Hartlaub felt Beckmann was one of Germany's most important artist. However, as early as 1923 Beckmann shifted away from his Magic Realist phase toward individualistic styles, ultimately integrating diverse influences which included Cezanne, Grünewald, Brueghel and medieval stained glass.          

       Franz Roh stated that Magic Realism should not simply bring back "the more neutral art of Courbet and Leibl". He opposed any revival of 19th Century academic art, feeling that artists should avoid regression. Within the Munich group Kanoldt, Schrimpf and Mense each had connections with Italian art, both through the Deutsch-Römer artists of the 1800s and also through a number of Italian contemporary artists, including both Carlo Carra and Giorgio de Chirico. Influences of De Chirico  can also be seen in the works of many German artists during the early 1920s, including George Grosz, Anton Raederscheidt and Max Ernst. An even broader influence on German Weimar art was that of Henri Rousseau, the primitivist French painter. Naive aspects are apparent in the works of German artists from several different regions, including those by Max Beckmann, Wilhelm Schnarrenberger, Carl Grossberg, Georg Scholz, Ernst Thoms, Grethe Jüergens, Erich Wegner, Walter Spies, Niklaus Stoeklin and Adolf Dietrich (known as the German Rousseau). Inclusion of naive elements was an important strategy used by artists to move away from Expressionism. It should be viewed as one of the most significant categories of Magic Realism within Weimar art. For many artists a naive style proved to be a short termed or transitional phase, but many early works of the Magic Realism  movement contained naive elements.

        The postwar period saw the spread of a counter-Modernist movement in the arts, known as the Return to Order (or Call to Order), which included the revival of many traditional painting techniques. In Italy Il Novecento Italiano in particular stood out in this regard, through the paintings of Felice Casorati, Achille Funi, Ubaldo Oppi, Gino Severini and Antonio Donghi., as did works by Andre Derain,  Felix Vallotton and Auguste Herbin in France. Around 1925 a strong tendency toward precision and illusionism emerged within German art. This was partially due to the success of Hautlaub's exhibition but the trend was also supported by a steady influx of new artists. Many of these artists were interested in early Renaissance and adopted techniques based on careful studies of the Flemish and German Masters. By the mid 1920s numerous intensely detailed paintings began to appear, sometimes exhibiting an almost unnatural realism. Often the "magic" of these paintings was embedded in the details of the work. Important variations of Magic Realism developed from this tendency. The paintings of Franz Radziwill are good examples, as he often instilled an eerie or ominous atmosphere into his works. Equally notable were architectonic paintings by Carl Grossberg, who sometimes added uncanny elements to his works such as bats, birds or apes. Meanwhile Christian Schad studied Raphael and other Italian Masters while living in Naples. Schad's paintings consistently exhibited a cool and almost photographic sharpness, but often included both naive and metaphorical elements. His art is often cited by art historians and writers as the quintessential art of Neue Sachlichkeit. Many of his Schad's paintings exhibit intangible qualities connecting him to Magic Realism.

        An important characteristic of Magic Realism is ultrasharp focus. Sharp detail is seen throughout the paintings, including in the background. Highly defined and even exaggerated detail may also appear selectively in areas that the artist wishes to accentuate. The overall effect is to move the viewer's attention all over the painting, before allowing the totality of the composition to be comprehended. The same effect occurs frequently in naive paintings and occurred in many works by  the Renaissance German and Flemish Masters. Another characteristic often seen in Magic Realism paintings is an almost unnatural clarity. This was achieved by flattened tonality and idealized lighting, by limitations on atmospheric effects and by suppressing shadows. Many Magic Realism paintings also exhibit a false naturalism.  

         A focus on objects helped to define the work of German artists art during the Weimar years. Franz Roh stated that Magic Realism "employs various techniques that endow all things with a deeper meaning and reveal mysteries that always threaten the secure tranquility of simple and ingenuous things...  it is a question of representing before our eyes, in an intuitive way, the fact, the interior figure, of the exterior world". He spoke of a "gegenstandlichkeit', or a sensitivity to objects. Many of Roh's comments  about Magic Realism stem from his interest in phenomenology, a philosophical methodology which studies  structures within our consciousness. Roh further commented about the emergence of Magic Realism "the autonomy of the objective world around us was once more enjoyed; the wonder of matter that could crystallize into objects was to be seen anew." In the words of historian Edith Balas "They (Magic Realists) used a form of stylization whereby the observed phenomenon was reduced to its essence, confirming the oneness of the gestalt despite the multiplicity of its aspects. Notwithstanding their avowed goal of capturing the appearance of momentary phenomenon with the utmost fidelity, their unconscious aim was to transcend the many contingent modes of reality and create an eidos, an abstract essential form ; therefore their realism was never quite "real", but rather a synthesis of their perceptions expressed in the disciplined, methodical treatment of the painted image: the experience of vision. This phenomenon is inseparably associated with appearance as phantasia."

          Through his comparison of Magic Realism with Expressionism, Franz Roh defined its most important stylistic characteristics, yet there has always been confusion regarding its content. Some writers have equated Magic Realism with Hartlaub's right wing of Neue Sachlichkeit. In other instances Magic Realism has been referred to as a type of Surrealism or as art that descended from Pittura metafisica. In his 1925 book Roh actually detailed seven different currents as being related to  Magic Realism. Using this multifaceted outlook, Roh envisioned a broad movement, one which was also evident in a number of  countries outside of Germany. The multifaceted nature of Magic Realism has been overlooked by most historians. Based on a comprehensive survey of art during the interwar period, it is apparent that there were many paintings that aspired to transcend a straight realism and/or to evoke cerebral musing, yet still displaying stylistic characteristics outlined by Roh. Following are the most significant groupings from which Magic Realism emerged in the four decades after World War I, and as related to Roh's multifaceted concept.

• Classical - roughly Hartlaub's right wing. Most applicable to Italian art, especially Il Novocento Italiano.

• Socially Critical - the so-called Verism of Grosz, Dix, Schlicter and others.

• Hardened Expressionism - Beckmann, Carl Hofer, Albert Birkle and others.

• Metaphysical - art descending from early Metaphysical painting.

• Naive - art influenced by Henri Rousseau or by neo-primitivism (Carra).

• Architectonic - a broad range of art using themes of architecture and the Metropolis, including Carl Grossberg, Charles Sheeler and the Precisionists.

• Illusionistic - art incorporating various illusionistic devices, including trompe d'oeil.

• Metaphoric - art employing a rich usage of objects metaphorically

         This overall diversity was not without precedent among major art movements. For example, Post-Impressionism refers to a varied reaction to Impressionism in the 1880s and 90s. Symbolism and Surrealism are both noteworthy for considerable variations in style and content. With Magic Realism, the initial multiformity of the early 1920s narrowed over time, as a number of variations evolved and coalesced into regional genres, mainly in Italy, the Netherlands and in the Americas.

           In the late 1920s Magic Realism developed in other European countries and in the Americas. This was also the time in which Surrealism began to build up steam as an art movement, and it soon overshadowed Magic Realism. Andre Breton, as the foremost organizer of Surrealism, actively recruited both in Europe and North America. His efforts did not always bear fruit. As Fridha Kahlo bluntly put it, "I don't paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality". In France and Belgium, artists like Pierre Roy and Paul Delvaux, admirers of Giorgio de Chirico, produced works that bordered on an improbable reality. Important Magic Realist active during the 1930s included Balthus in France, Cagnaccio di San Pietro in Italy, Tristram Hillier and Edward Wadsworth in England, and Antonio Berni in Argentina. Meanwhile Dutch artists Carel Willink, Raoul Hynckes, Dick Ket and Pyke Koch actively worked with Franz Roh's concepts to establish a tradition of Dutch Magic Realism that lives on to our present day. Koch provided a concise definition of the mission of the Magic Realist, "Magic Realism is based on the representation of what is possible, but not probable".

          The infatuation with the world of objects that German painters developed was  fueled by a technological revolution and the emergence of a mass culture. At the same time, political and economic instability during the interwar period fomented alienation and cultural anxieties. The reaction of many artists was most evident in thir use of visual devices which De Chirico referred as defamiliarization, or making the ordinary seem strange or enigmatic. Thus came about the development of "The Uncanny", an aesthetic which became as important to Magic Realism as the sublime had been for Romanticism in the previous century. The Uncanny was a pervasive component within much of the representational art produced between 1920 and 1960. It should be considered an essential component in works of Magic Realism, though in many cases its presence is subliminal.

       In the 1920s an important development in American art occurred, which was at first referred to as Cubist Realism, then as the Immaculate School and eventually as Precisionism. The movement encompassed a range of styles, from abstraction to an early type of photorealism, and covered architectural and industrial subject matter along with the vernacular and provincial. The most prominent of the Precisionists was Charles Sheeler, who developed a realistic style in the late 1920s, reminiscent of Die Neue Sachlichkiet. Sheeler and other painters associated with Precisionism were also among the first Americans to produce Magic Realism.       

       In the 1920s American artist Grant Wood made several study trips to Europe. He came away most impressed with the precision and clarity that he saw in the works of the old Flemish masters, especially those of Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling. He also saw first hand the developments occurring in German contemporary art. Two distinct types of Magic Realism appear in his work produced after 1930. First his portraits are done in the style of the Flemish and German masters and include obvious symbolism. In his landscapes, he often makes use of quasi-naive stylizations and miniaturization. Although Grant Wood is generally considered to be one of three important Regionalist painters, many of his paintings are wonderful examples of Magic Realism.

         During the 1930s the Great Depression had a signification impact on American artists. Many struggled to make a living and sought government support in the WPA Federal Art Project. An indigenous type of academic art developed in the United States during the 1930s, which is referred to as The American Scene. The subject matter chosen by many artists during this period was often anecdotal and either involved some aspect of social commentary (Social Realism) or portrayed the regional characteristics of American rural culture (Regionalism). A wide range of styles developed during the period, from academic naturalism to an indigenous expressionism. Meanwhile Surrealism was formally introduced in the U.S. in late 1931 at an exhibition titled "Newer Super Realism" at the Wadsworth Athenuem in Hartford, CT. Included were works by De Chirico, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Pierre Roy. A new variation of American art was spawned during the 1930s, called Social Surrealism, which was a blend of Surrealism with Social Realism.. Paintings by James Guy and Walter Quirt were typical. Generally American painters were less interested in psychoanalytical introspection and probing the subconscious than their European counterparts, and their interaction with Surrealism was defined by American iconography and terms. Sometimes paintings exhibited illusions of reality embedded with strange, uncanny or mysterious elements. Narratives were often incomplete or partially hidden. This typified Magic Realism in America during the 1930s. Artists in the 1930s whom are often cited as producing this type of art included Ivan Albright, Peter Blume, Ben Shahn, Philip Evergood and O Louis Guglielmi.

        The late 1930s saw an emigration of European artists to the Americas, including many connected with the Surrealism movement. This development produced a mixture of curiosity, angst and experimentation among American artists. Although many of the Surrealists settled in New York City, when Breton arrived in 1941 he was unable to remobilize the formal movement. Regardless, Surrealism had a rather significant impact on American artists in the late 1930s and early 40s, influencing the development of Abstract Expressionism, and encouraging liberation from the prevailing attitudes that had favored Regionalism.

        In 1943 an exhibition entitled "American Realists and Magic Realists" was assembled at the Museum of Modern Art in New York by Dorothy C. Miller. Many young artists who would help develop Magic Realism were represented in this exhibition, including Jared French, Paul Cadmus, Charles Rain and Andrew Wyeth. Within a few years George Tooker,  John Wilde, Henry Koerner, Robert Vickery, and Canadian Alex Colville began to produce paintings that we now think of as Magic Realism. All of these artists also used Tempera techniques which date back to the Early Renaissance. Their paintings were crafted as the meticulous objects of art, yet their imagery was infused with metaphoric and symbolic elements. Many of their paintings also featured "surreal"  or dream-like nuances. 

        In the late 1940s and early 50s Magic Realism flourished, distinguishing itself from other movements such as Social Realism and Surrealism. During this period Magic Realism also helped to carry the banner of Realism, during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism. Fortunately the work of the American Magic Realists have received some due recognition recently. The art establishment of the day marginalized all representational art. and only in the late 1960s the pendulum of tastes began to swing away from abstract styles. However Photorealism and Hyperrealism, with a more detached approach to content, became the preferred approach for a new generation of artists. 

        The topic of Magic Realism in art has come up often in recent years, as writers explore the origins of its use in literature and more recently in cinema. Many observers have difficulty understanding that Magic Realism in art differs from Magic Realism in literature, as the overtly fantastic was excluded in art. Instead it depended on more subtle twists of the quotidian. A simple explanation is that although fantastic art has existed since the Renaissance, it was never recognized as part of the mainstream until it developed a broader market, which has began to blossom only within the past 50 years. Franz Roh recognized the potential of the fantastic, expressing his admiration for dreamers like Henri Rousseau and Walter Spies. But meanwhile mankind was dealing with the fallout of two World Wars, the Great Depression and the Cold War. During such trying times gravity has a tendency to bring most art back down to earth.

        Most of the important artists who produced Magic Realism preferred to remain independent from the publicity and controversies of established art movements. As Magic Realism had no champion and no manifesto, both the general public and even many artists were never quite clear about what the term meant. At the same time, there is no doubt that a widespread current within representational painting occurred in the four decades after World War I, which can be distinguished from Expressionism, Social Realism, Surrealism and other major movements of the first half of the 20th Century. Magic Realism quietly grew from several commonalities among artists including an affinity for the traditions of techniques, a love of art history and from a shared collective consciousness. Most of its practitioners have now passed on, but they have been left us their great legacy.

       The objective of this article is to presetn an overview of Magic Realism as it developed as an art movement, and also to emphasize that content is an essential component of Magic Realism paintings. A list of artists associated with Magic Realism follows below. This list is not exhaustive, but in order to get a better understanding of the real essence of Magic Realism, it is recommended that you visit these galleries and review the comments. It should be noted that in many cases Magic Realism may represent only a small portion of an artist's oeuvre.

 Georg Kremer  -  Email: editor@monograffii.com 

Artists whose works have been associated with Magic Realism. A brief overview of their paintings has been included.