Kurt Seligmann

Kurt Leopold Seligmann (20 July 1900, Basel – 2 January 1962, Sugar Loaf) was a Swiss-American Surrealist painter, engraver, and occultist. He was extremely influential within the Surrealist movement in Paris and particularly in the United States.

Early life and education Seligmann was born on 20 July 1900 in Basel, Switzerland into a Jewish family. He was the son of furniture dealer Gustav Seligmann and his wife Helene Guggenheim, a relative of Peggy Guggenheim. He had an older sister, Marguerite.

As a teenager, he worked in a print shop where he hand-colored glass lantern slides.

New York Following Germany's Invasion of Poland in 1939, Seligmann and his wife left France for New York City. He was the first Surrealist to escape Europe and aided other artists in Paris in emigrating. During this time, he frequently wrote for View and VVV. This was followed the next year by his 500-page The Mirror of Magic, which he wrote and illustrated. Robert Motherwell, and Alan Vega. They kept geese, turkeys, and long-haired cows, though they largely used the farm to entertain guests. Both are buried on the property. The copyright representative for the Foundation and Seligmann's estate is the Artists Rights Society. The house also contains the Orange County Land Trust and the Seligmann Center for the Arts, and hosts film screenings, live performances, and art exhibitions.