Magnetic Mountain

Kurt Seligmann · 1948

Kurt Seligmann: American, 1900 - 1962

UnclassifiedUnited States

Later influence

Robert Motherwelleditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Wikidata (CC0)

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Museums & collections

Documented holdings of works attributed to Kurt Seligmann. Check the museum’s record for current display information.

Art Institute of Chicago31 recorded works
The Cleveland Museum of Art7 recorded works
The Metropolitan Museum of Art7 recorded works
National Gallery of Art3 recorded works
musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg — Strasbourg1 recorded work
Museum of Modern Art1 recorded work

Sources 4

Magnetic Mountain

1948

Dating: Exact year
Held at: Art Institute of Chicago
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 162.6 × 188 cm (64 × 74 in.)
Collection no.: 1981.269
Attribution: By the artist

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago

About this artwork

Magnetic Mountain — Kurt Seligmann. 1948.

Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 162.6 × 188 cm (64 × 74 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

After Kurt Seligmann settled in Paris, his sinister, biomorphic compositions gained the attention of André Breton, who invited him to join the Surrealist group in 1937. With the outbreak of World War II, Seligmann became the first Surrealist to arrive in New York and was instrumental in the emigration of most of the movement’s leading figures. Transformed by contact with new cultures, Seligmann’s work continued to evolve, and as the Surrealists’ acknowledged expert on magic, he infused his paintings with mythology and esotericism. Indeed, the year he made this work, he published The Mirror of Magic , a history of the occult. The winding forms and mystical quality of this canvas would influence a new generation of American artists, including his student, Robert Motherwell.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.

Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.

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