Man and His Symbols
by Carl G. Jung
Contents
Union of opposites
Overview
The chapter describes a mid-century turn within abstract painting toward reuniting inward experience with nature, aiming at a conscious union of opposites. Photography assumes depiction of actuality, freeing painters to pursue inner reality. Modern art enters churches, hinting at collaboration with Christianity. Despite ongoing anxiety, signs of hope appear.
Summary
The author notes a gradual mid-20th-century shift within abstract art. While photography, exemplified by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Werner Bischof, takes over depiction of concrete actuality, many painters redirect abstraction toward expressing lived experience of nature and the world, seeking meaning beyond formal novelty.
Alfred Manessier calls for “reconquering” the weight of human reality through nonfigurative means that recover the painter’s essential self, ultimately reengaging outward reality. Jean Bazaine warns that pure, disembodied rhythm drains form; he urges an “art of communion” in which viewers recognize themselves in the world. Their shared aim is a new union of body and soul, matter and spirit—healing the rift between extreme abstraction and stark realism.
This intent appears in the work’s atmosphere: despite abstraction, Manessier and Gustave Singier convey belief in the world, achieving harmonious, even serene color-form relations. Jean Lurçat’s tapestries exude nature’s exuberance. Paul Klee exemplifies such harmony while insisting that evil must be integrated as a collaborating power, though Klee’s stance remains more cosmic than the younger, earth-rooted painters.
Concurrently, modern art turns to religious themes, overcoming a “metaphysical void.” The Church becomes a patron—through sites like All Saints in Basle (Manessier), Assy, the Matisse chapel at Vence, and Audincourt (Bazaine, Fernand Léger)—signaling a shift from compensatory, hermetic roles toward potential collaboration between modern art and Christianity, where light and chthonic forces belong together.
Yet the future remains uncertain: pervasive anxiety and reluctance to apply art’s insights personally still dominate culture. Artists can voice truths that provoke resistance when stated by psychologists, leaving many insights impersonal. Even so, works such as Pierre-Yves Trémois’s and, especially, Pierre Soulages’s canvases—where luminous color glows behind massive black forms—suggest a dawning light behind darkness, a hopeful image of emerging wholeness.
Who Appears
- Alfred ManessierAdvocates reconquering human reality through nonfigurative art, uniting inner self with outward world; designs church windows.
- Jean BazaineWarns against sterile abstraction; calls for an ‘art of communion’ reconciling feeling and concrete form.
- Paul KleeModel of harmonious form who insists evil be integrated as part of the whole.
- Gustave SingierAbstract painter whose works radiate belief in the world and serene harmony.
- Jean LurçatTapestry artist whose 1950s works channel nature’s exuberance and sensuous imagination.
- Pierre SoulagesPaintings show luminous color behind black structures, symbolizing hope and emerging light.
- Henri Cartier-BressonPhotographer exemplifying how photography assumes depiction of concrete reality with personal vision.
- Werner BischofPhotographer cited as capturing actuality, reinforcing painting’s turn inward.
- Fernand LégerContributes works to church at Audincourt, emblematic of modern art’s entry into sacred spaces.
- Henri MatisseCreator of the Vence chapel, representing church patronage of modern art.
- Pierre-Yves TrémoisArtist whose work suggests a movement toward life and wholeness.
- The ChurchInstitution that patronizes modern art, signaling potential reconciliation with contemporary spirituality.