Magnetic Moths

Mediums: collage.
Location: Tate Gallery (London, Great Britain).

Roland Penrose often used travel postcards as material for creating images. With the help of photographs of famous architectural and natural objects, the artist created a completely different reality, a little shocking due to the discrepancy between real places and their role in his collage. Thus, in the painting “Magnetic Moths”, the repeated image of the Eiffel Tower constitutes the central part of the butterfly, which rushes swiftly to the bright flame of a lit candle. In the work, the artist also used one of his favorite methods – frottage, giving the texture of old wood to the flame.