For Heraclius Astudillo Pombo, DMACS, UdL
begin a new chapter to show a new type of influence exerted by the fossils of human culture, this time will be dedicated to demonstrate how through the artists and the visual arts show a type special relationships between fossils and some humans, this is a category of relationships and conceptual aesthetic nature.
painter itself also offers a very interesting personal interpretation of this work of his, in a letter to his brother, the doctor Rodrigo Varo. Remedios Varo in which he writes:
Here, as in many of his paintings, Varo uses music to symbolize an organizing principle. Its scientists do not make their models with machines or hand directly, but through music, the music is a deliberate construction organized by a table, and therefore appears as an agent to organize life in several of the images of the building designed by Varo .
The scientist's body in the piper seems to emerge from plants
art critic and writer, he also notes in his article that " Some of the architectural elements of the tower are characteristic of the architecture of the Girona population of
By way of conclusion.
Although the fossils, by position, size, abundance and detail, appear to be an important element in the design, composition and execution of the painting by Remedios Varo, note first , that at no time, the artist, explicitly mentions the theory of evolution, and suggests any specific intent on the inclusion of fossils in the rocks with his work, are the commentators of his work which give to the fossils represented a concrete and symbolic functions to a specific geographical origin and distant.
Introduction.
begin a new chapter to show a new type of influence exerted by the fossils of human culture, this time will be dedicated to demonstrate how through the artists and the visual arts show a type special relationships between fossils and some humans, this is a category of relationships and conceptual aesthetic nature.
Throughout the various part of this chapter, we will be showing as fossils, have also attracted the interest of artists, one of the most sensitive social sectors to everything that happens and is part of the natural and social environment. Such people are specially trained to capture sensory aspects of this class of rare objects, and to visually express the emotions that produces the contemplation of such stones, or to learn to communicate, aesthetic form, certain particular mental conceptions, which sometimes led them some comments and some reflections, made around them.
In the various art works that we will be presented throughout this chapter, you'll see, as, in many cases, what seems to have inspired or impressed by the artist have been purely formal characteristics of certain types of fossils. So that, in some cases, it is evident that what attracted you to the fossil was the uniqueness of certain geometric shapes, however, in other cases, it seems that what surprised him was the plasticity of certain forms volumetric , while in others, it seems that so charmed him was the uniqueness of certain textures or certain color contrasts, etc. On a few occasions, the artistic relationship with the fossil seems to have been much more complex, intellectually, it's own commentaries artist or title of the work, show that it has sought to establish a symbolic association with certain facts or ideas, be they more or less trascedendental (philosophical, mythical, political, scientific, ethical, esoteric, etc..) or prosaic (space, volume, shape, color, etc..), using expressive language, some of the physical characteristics of the fossils cited above, plus the necessary technical pictorial composition and chromatics.
In the various art works that we will be presented throughout this chapter, you'll see, as, in many cases, what seems to have inspired or impressed by the artist have been purely formal characteristics of certain types of fossils. So that, in some cases, it is evident that what attracted you to the fossil was the uniqueness of certain geometric shapes, however, in other cases, it seems that what surprised him was the plasticity of certain forms volumetric , while in others, it seems that so charmed him was the uniqueness of certain textures or certain color contrasts, etc. On a few occasions, the artistic relationship with the fossil seems to have been much more complex, intellectually, it's own commentaries artist or title of the work, show that it has sought to establish a symbolic association with certain facts or ideas, be they more or less trascedendental (philosophical, mythical, political, scientific, ethical, esoteric, etc..) or prosaic (space, volume, shape, color, etc..), using expressive language, some of the physical characteristics of the fossils cited above, plus the necessary technical pictorial composition and chromatics.
Given the objectives of the project Cultural and Etnopaleontología Ibericas Paleontology,
in all cases, only, submit art works by artists Iberian, English, mostly for ease of location and to a lesser extent, non-Iberian works of artists but who are or have been settled in the territory or the Iberian Peninsula island territories annexed, and that at some point have represented some kind of indigenous fossil or have representation in the Iberian geology.
Considerations fossils represented in the "Pied Piper" of the artist surrealist Remedios Varo , (1908, Spain -1963, Mexico)
This pictorial, in which the author has represented various types of fossils, is a very special case compared with most of the fine art show throughout this special issue dedicated to show and discuss the various forms of fossils representing the visual arts. What makes this work so special is that we have available for review enough information about it, which refers to the alleged motivations of the artist to include fossils in this painting and meaning is supposed to have represented. 
This availability of information has been possible, for Remedios Varo is currently a painter widely recognized and valued internationally renowned, both conditions have made possible the generation and dissemination of utmost
literature 
This availability of information has been possible, for Remedios Varo is currently a painter widely recognized and valued internationally renowned, both conditions have made possible the generation and dissemination of utmost all his work, so we could have many reviews written by international experts on this particular work, they have been the sources of information to contextualize the work of art.
"The Flute Player" / "The flutist" 1955. Oil on masonite, 0.75 x 0.93 m. Private Collection, Mexico City
The essayist, Carmen V. Vidal (2001), in his article "Exploring the
light: Remedios Varo " writes:
"In 1955, Remedios Varo painted an oil on masonite, titled" Pied Piper ". This work has a dimension of 75 by 93 centimeters, it employs the technique of the decal, I had learned from the Surrealists.
The female character is a space, standing and seems to emerge from a rocky outcrop, while playing a flute. On an autumn lawn, toward the center of oil, you can see a group of rocks, cut into coarse for use in a building that can be seen in the background, it is a polygonal building, whose front facade There is an entrance and inside of which
leads to a staircase. This construction resembles a tower, still incomplete, which can staggered three distinct bodies. Outside there is a nebulous space that serves as background to the scene. "
"In 1955, Remedios Varo painted an oil on masonite, titled" Pied Piper ". This work has a dimension of 75 by 93 centimeters, it employs the technique of the decal, I had learned from the Surrealists.
The female character is a space, standing and seems to emerge from a rocky outcrop, while playing a flute. On an autumn lawn, toward the center of oil, you can see a group of rocks, cut into coarse for use in a building that can be seen in the background, it is a polygonal building, whose front facade There is an entrance and inside of which
leads to a staircase. This construction resembles a tower, still incomplete, which can staggered three distinct bodies. Outside there is a nebulous space that serves as background to the scene. " Detail of" The Pied Piper ", which can be seen as a superhuman force, almost invisible, represented by a thin curved line, selecting and raising will "magically" some stones with fossils in its surface for joining írlas also "magically" in the construction of one side, a three-story tower and eight sides.
painter itself also offers a very interesting personal interpretation of this work of his, in a letter to his brother, the doctor Rodrigo Varo. Remedios Varo in which he writes:
"The Pied Piper built the octagonal tower lifting the stones with the power and momentum of the sound of his flute, the rocks are fossils.
The octagonal tower to symbolize (somewhat vaguely, I must say) the theory of octaves. (Theory very important in certain esoteric teachings). Half of the tower is drawn as transparent and only because it is imagined that the building is. "
For his part, Alan J. Friedman (2008), in " science Serenity " writes:
"The Pied Piper shows the creation of a model of the theory of evolution. Lines sketched profile of a tower, are the brainchild of scientist, the stones of the tower are the model under construction. This model is made from fossil fuels, because initially it is registered through them we can test the theory of evolution. Particular fossils look Varo chosen represent
"The Pied Piper shows the creation of a model of the theory of evolution. Lines sketched profile of a tower, are the brainchild of scientist, the stones of the tower are the model under construction. This model is made from fossil fuels, because initially it is registered through them we can test the theory of evolution. Particular fossils look Varo chosen represent
relatively early and abundant forms of life on earth: trilobites, ammonites 
, ferns, fish . The tower will be very high because we are still far from the most recent forms of life, as 
people and cats.
, ferns, fish . The tower will be very high because we are still far from the most recent forms of life, as 
people and cats. Details of "The Pied Piper" in which you can see, with some visual impairment, various figures that, as Technical Characteristics, can be identified by some as potential ammonites , another as a possible trilobites and some other as potential fish or simple leaves and compound leaves and other certain types of vegetables ....
Here, as in many of his paintings, Varo uses music to symbolize an organizing principle. Its scientists do not make their models with machines or hand directly, but through music, the music is a deliberate construction organized by a table, and therefore appears as an agent to organize life in several of the images of the building designed by Varo .
The scientist's body in the piper seems to emerge from plants
landscape. Does evolution has created for scientists to understand itself and perhaps change course? "
critic art, Rafael Santos Torroella (1989), states in Article "Time never lost Remedios Varo, that " according to a witness, the fossils he has painted Remedios Varo, are like Santa Brigida Mountain near Peracaula in Gerona. "
critic art, Rafael Santos Torroella (1989), states in Article "Time never lost Remedios Varo, that " according to a witness, the fossils he has painted Remedios Varo, are like Santa Brigida Mountain near Peracaula in Gerona. "
art critic and writer, he also notes in his article that " Some of the architectural elements of the tower are characteristic of the architecture of the Girona population of Angles, as are the arches and the building tiered tower.
Hermitage of St. Bridget, in the municipality of Amer (Girona), which gives its name to the Serrezuela limestone on which it sits and which would come, presumably, fossils that inspired one of the reasons discussed surrealist painting.
Image: http://www.artmedieval.net/images/imageC5387.jpg
Juliana González (2008), article " world and afterlife of Remedios
Juliana González (2008), article " world and afterlife of Remedios
Varo " writes:
"The miracle of life for the miracle of creation. The art and craft of miracle, wonder. But does not refer to creation ex nihilo "Quite the contrary. With "his breath" and force "Cell" of music that lifts ancient fossils, flutist (mage-illuminated) creates a cathedral geometrical sublime. Merge matter and spirit to bring to perfection. Man blows with plant life and
mountain plants. The trees are on land and water at a time, joining parts: land-sea-sky, joining the Times in the creative act. The tops of the mountains and craters are below the miraculous event. Supreme moment of fantasy and the experience of religiosity of the artist-poet. Masterpiece. "
Details lower level wall, which can be seen
"The miracle of life for the miracle of creation. The art and craft of miracle, wonder. But does not refer to creation ex nihilo "Quite the contrary. With "his breath" and force "Cell" of music that lifts ancient fossils, flutist (mage-illuminated) creates a cathedral geometrical sublime. Merge matter and spirit to bring to perfection. Man blows with plant life and
mountain plants. The trees are on land and water at a time, joining parts: land-sea-sky, joining the Times in the creative act. The tops of the mountains and craters are below the miraculous event. Supreme moment of fantasy and the experience of religiosity of the artist-poet. Masterpiece. "Details lower level wall, which can be seen
quite clearly ammonite spiral shapes are they? and more difficult to recognize, "It is a dragonfly? Is one a" fern frond? ...
historian and art critic, Sue Taylor (2001), in " Into the Mystic-Surrealist painter Remedios Varo "writes
" In The Pied Piper (1955), show a flutist Orphic, Mother of pearl face, it's enchanting some fossilized rocks that rise from the ground, covered with grass, ascending into the ether, to go joining in the construction of a ziggurat.
In this representation, we recognize the idea of \u200b\u200bharmony in the world of Ouspensky, and the old notion that music can relate and organize all that exists, both ideas are inspired by Varo artistic conceptions about art, science and Nature. "
In " The Science of Remedios Varo ", texts from The New York Times Science Forum. 2000. You can read: " In The Pied Piper (1955), show a flutist Orphic, Mother of pearl face, it's enchanting some fossilized rocks that rise from the ground, covered with grass, ascending into the ether, to go joining in the construction of a ziggurat.
In this representation, we recognize the idea of \u200b\u200bharmony in the world of Ouspensky, and the old notion that music can relate and organize all that exists, both ideas are inspired by Varo artistic conceptions about art, science and Nature. "
Your Fancy meticulous and multivalent paintings are very famous for a long time in Mexico, where he finally made his home, and now, 37 years after his death in 1963, Ms. Remedios
In a symposium held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Dr. Friedman said the many messages that scientists and engineers contains the work of Mrs. Remedios Varo. He described how the artist expressed in his paintings, in a metaphorical sense, some of the most revolutionary scientific theories and most complex of its time, since the special theory of relativity, Einstein and the theory of evolution by natural selection, Darwin, to the premise that
human beings are made of same material that are composed of stars, their bodies are built with elements generated in solar ovens for millions or billions of years.
Varo has tried to convey, especially the most profound and creative moments in the life of a scientist, those where the investigator, for the first time, dare to imagine an alternate universe, creating a new model of how things work that differs radically from previous models. What he was doing, uniquely among artists of his day, was representing these crucial moments of scientific discovery is so exciting for the scientist, realizing that this central act of scientific laimaginación, the free play of creative mind, is very similar to what artists do. "
Portrait of Remedios Varo, in their study of Mexico City towards the end of their life stage.
http://www.angelfire.com/va2/vcollazo/images/varo.jpg
Ms. Remedios Varo was an avid reader of science fiction literature and some respectable popularizers of science, such as Fred Hoyle and Isaac Asimov. Through his writings acquired knowledge about cosmology, evolution and genetics. In one painting, "The Pied Piper." The musician could be seen as a substitute for Charles Darwin, which is building a tower that symbolizes the theory of evolution, ancient rocks contain fossils of trilobites, fish, ferns, and ammonites, spiral. The music served Ms. Remedios as a principle of organization and that is how is the sound of the flute is helping organize the fossil record in the construction of the mighty tower of evolution.
By way of conclusion.
After so many artistic and philosophical musings, some expressed by the artist himself and others by some scholars sympathetic to his work, in terms of choice, function, meaning and origin of the fossils that he painted in 1955 , Remedios Varo, in "The Pied Piper" being now installed permanently in Mexico, after a long and eventful journey of life, few we can add things, it is not something so obvious and so unoriginal How much imagination as have the artists show their creations when they raise or how much plastic fantasy have to apply some scholars and art critics when they comment!
Secondly, we must also stress the unreliability that from our point of view, deserve some evidence that they are also anonymous, to witness a supposed geographical origin of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fossils that according to that evidence, would have served as models of inspiration to the author, the creation of some the images depicted in "The Pied Piper." We refer to the hypothetical existence of a fossil called "real" should be found in the mountains of Santa Brigida, in the village of Amer Girona, if this hypothetical origin was not geologically impossible lithological and chronological reasons, as We confirmed the paleontologist James Gallemí, curator of the collection of Paleontology at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona.
Thirdly, and from our point of view, in this work, as in many other stage of the Mexican surrealist author and despite the obscure language of the dream and versatile visual metaphors used by their very nature irrational polysemic and lend themselves to many interpretations, I think in the works of Remedios Varo, allegedly scientistic as its apologists, there are many more references, implicit and explicit, to a perception of the world that is more akin to the conceptions of reality, magic and alchemy that the perspectives on natural and social situations often provide rational thought and scientific practice. Magical-alchemical vision of the world, the surrealist Remedios Varo, is expressed in his works, through the strange technological paraphernalia that installs in your scenarios, the impossible situations chosen and appearance and gestures, generally inhumane, which show the characters portrayed.
Sources:
- Anonymous, 2000. "The Science Of Remedios Varo" , Excerpts from The New York Times Science Forum. http://serandipity.50megs.com/inform.html - Friedman, Alan J. 2008. " science Serenity " Remedios Varo: Catalogue raisonne. 4 th edition. 2008 Gruen, Walter (ed.) Mexico City, Ediciones Era, p. 85.
- Gallemí Paulet, Jaume. Personal communication
- Gonzalez, Juliana. 2008. " world and afterlife of Remedios Varo " in City, Ediciones Era, p. 93-94
- Santos Torroella, Rafael. 1989. "Time never lost Remedios Varo: some clues to his painting," Remedios Varo (catalog published for the first retrospective of Remedios Varo in Spain), Madrid, Spain Fundación Banco Exterior, 1989, pp. 56-57.
- Gonzalez, Juliana. 2008. " world and afterlife of Remedios Varo " in City, Ediciones Era, p. 93-94
- Santos Torroella, Rafael. 1989. "Time never lost Remedios Varo: some clues to his painting," Remedios Varo (catalog published for the first retrospective of Remedios Varo in Spain), Madrid, Spain Fundación Banco Exterior, 1989, pp. 56-57.
- Taylor, Sue. 2001. "Into the Mystic- Surrealist painter Remedios Varo" , Art in America, April.
- Varo, Remedios. 2008. "Remedios Varo comments, some of his paintings, addressed to his brother Dr. Rodrigo Varo, Remedios Varo: Catalogue raisonne. 4 th edition. 2008 Gruen, Walter (ed.) Mexico City, Ediciones Era p. 112
- Varo, Remedios. 2008. "Remedios Varo comments, some of his paintings, addressed to his brother Dr. Rodrigo Varo, Remedios Varo: Catalogue raisonne. 4 th edition. 2008 Gruen, Walter (ed.) Mexico City, Ediciones Era p. 112
- Arenas Vidal, Carmen. 2001. " The exploration of light: Remedios Varo" , Clio N ° 20.
