The Phantom Surrealist

 The Phantom Surrealist

Reviewed By  Nan van Dissel       August 27, 2026

 

Author  Geoffrey Gates

Distributor:      Transit Liunge
ISBN:                 9781923023680
Publisher:         Transit Lounge
Release Date:   1 August 2026  

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Many readers will be familiar with Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo amongst two of the most iconic surrealist artists, each exploring the subconscious through dreamlike and fantastical imagery. Award winning author, Geoffrey Gates in his recently published book ‘The Phantom Surrealist’ as well as introducing the reader to known and not so well-known artists and their works of this influential movement, explores the life of a fictional Australian surrealist artist, Robert J Wake.

Present day academic Christopher Tiffen, while visiting the Sydney Art Gallery becomes not only captivated with a painting but also with the woman standing beside him, who is also viewing this work. The artist is Australian surrealist Robert J Wake, and she is Agnes Alert of Barcelona.

Having successfully negotiated a grant for his PhD’s research in the area of expatriate and exiled Australian and Spanish artists from the 1930s, on limited funds, he sets off to reconstruct Wake’s life in England and later in France and Barcelona. While exploring Wake’s new found romantic interest and his exhibitions, the narrator pursues Agnes. 

Set in both Australia and Europe, and melded across two time frames, the author creatively unravels the mystery of the missing artist, while at the same time exposing the reader to Europe of the 1930’s and in particular, the Spanish Civil War.   

I recommend this book to not only readers, who enjoy a mystery with a touch of romance, but also to those wishing to acquire a greater understanding of Surrealism and the artists of this movement. However, while readers will find this well-researched art history of Surrealism captivating and informative, others may find it a little overwhelming to be introduced to so many artists of this period.

Fiction, General