1900
Kurt Seligmann is born July 20 in Basel, Switzerland.

1920
Studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, Geneva.

1927
Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence.

Late 1920s
Moves to Paris.

Mid-1930s
His work begins to take on a more baroque style.

1935
Meets and marries Arlette Paraf.

1936
Travels the world during a year-long honeymoon.

1937
André Breton formally accepts him into the Surrealist group Abstraction-Création.

1938
Travels to North America and British Columbia.

1939
Flees Paris and moves to New York. His first New York exhibition is held at the Karl Nierendorf Gallery.

1939-40
Teaches at Brooklyn College, Brooklyn and Briarcliff Junior College, Westchester. Helps many Surrealist artists flee to New York including André Breton, André Masson, Paul Eluard and Pierre Mabille.

1940
He and his wife move to Sugar Loaf, New York.

1940s
His work evolves and becomes more mature. He contributes regularly to the Surrealist periodicals View and VVV.

1941
Participates in the exhibition “The First Papers of Surrealism.”

1942
Participates in the “Artists in Exile” exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York.

1944
Produces a limited edition of six etchings illustrating the myth of Oedipus.

1948
Publishes The Mirror of Magic.

1949
He and his wife travel to Paris for the last time.

1950
Becomes a United States citizen.

1958
Retires from teaching at Brooklyn College.

1962
Dies at home in Sugar Loaf, New York on January 2 from an accidental gunshot wound.

Back To Top