[Audio Guide]
It is difficult to determine whether the organic shapes floating in this murky, ambiguous space of unknown location are living things or something else. Could these be dominant lifeforms emerging at the time when life originated, when most organisms would eventually become extinct? A Surrealist artist, Tanguy probed the illogical terrain of the unconscious in order to paint his unique landscapes. The gold-colored objects in the middle of the upper part of this painting and also in the lower left evoke the “lost bells” of the title. Whether it is formal bells from a church or a school or ordinary bells used in daily life whose whereabouts are unknown, this scene drifting in an undetermined space conveys an impression of surreal nostalgia.
