Revista de Estudios Sociales

rev. estud. soc. | eISSN 1900-5180 | ISSN 0123-885X

The Snake Charmer: Dreams of Distant Lands

No. 30 (2008-08-01)
  • Bernal María Clara
https://doi.org/10.7440/res30.2008.03

Abstract

This article explores a particular image of the Caribbean created by the imaginary of some French artists during the first half of the twentieth century. It focuses on the painting entitled The snake charmer (1907) by French artist Henri Rousseau who was inspired by travel accounts to represent far away places that he never visited. Based on Rousseau’s vision, the article reviews how the surrealists André Breton and André Masson subsequently adopted this work to describe the fascination they felt towards the West Indies, especially the islands of Martinique and Haiti.

Keywords: Caribbean, surrealism, representation

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