Anatomy Lesson

Mediums: gouache, magazine clippings, cardboard.
Location: The State Museum of Modern Art, Center Pompidou (Paris, France).

One of several collages created by the artist in Barcelona. During her stay in that city, Varo got to know such art movements as Cubism, Surrealism and Dada art, the influence of which is noticeable in this painting. The heroes of the collage are four men. Their heads look quite real, as those are photographs cut from the magazine, while their bodies resemble illustrations to the book of anatomy. In the centre of the painting, we can see an x-ray of the lungs of these people, and the incomprehensible wavy lines connecting the men and the container with some organs resembling strange grey blood. The presence of human eyes floating in this substance can be explained by the author’s extraordinary sense of humour.