Having been mistakenly perceived as a follower of Salvador Dalķ, Catalan surrealist painter and writer Ąngel Planells (19011989) has passed through the history of art practically unnoticed. Yet his work suggests an influence on a number of works by Dalķ, proving that a fairer way to define their relationship is as an artistic dialogue. His participation in the groundbreaking International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936 is in itself a marker of his quality as an artist, but Planells contribution to surrealism is remarkable for his use of astronomy, fantastic scenes redolent of Edgar Allan Poes narrative as well as ludic elements and meta-pictorial techniques that contest Fascism.
Introduction;
1. Planells and Dalķ: Reevaluating Their Relationship;
2.
Planells: Between the Fantastic and Surrealism;
3. Planells Participation in
Two Major Exhibitions;
4. Planells Interaction with War and Dictatorship;
5.
Astronomy in Planells Paintings, Drawings and Literary Texts; Conclusion
Anna Vives is a writer, teacher and researcher living in Scotland. She completed this book whilst holding an Honorary Research Fellowship in Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK.
