Julio González (1876-1942)
L'Ange, L'Insecte, La Danseuse – (The Angel, The Insect, The Dancer)

Nicknamed “The Dancer”, the official title of this piece was originally “The Insect”, before it was later rebaptised “The Angel” by Picasso. This triple identity is typical of complex Surrealist imagery. It is possible that González had read Roger Caillois’s article on the praying mantis, published in the Surrealist magazine Minotaure in 1934. Drawing on mythology and psychoanalysis, Callois’s text explored the sexual behaviour and cannibalistic tendencies of the insect, and related it to castration anxiety in humans. With its metal wings held out like scythes, González’s unsettling fusion of man and beast becomes an image of death.

L'Ange, L'Insecte, La Danseuse
AM929S
González Julio (1876-1942)
Iron (forged and welded) on stone base
Localisation : Paris, Centre Pompidou - Musée national d'art moderne - Centre de création
industrielle
© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Bertrand Prévost