Surrealism

Surrealism artistic and literary movement that explored and celebrated the realm of dreams and the unconscious mind through the creation of visual art, poetry, and motion pictures.

Surrealism Officially launched in Paris, France, in 1924, when French writer André Breton wrote the first surrealist manifesto, outlining the ambitions of the new movement.

Surrealism The movement soon spread to other parts of Europe and to North and South America.

Among surrealism’s most important contributions was the invention of new artistic techniques that tapped into the artist’s unconscious mind.

Influenced by the theories of the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (German, 1856-1939), the images found in surrealist works are as confusing and startling as those of dreams.

Surrealist works can have a realistic, though irrational style, precisely describing dreamlike fantasies.

The Uncertainty of the Poet ( 1913) by the Greco-Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico is filled with dreamlike imagery.

One of the images, that of a train in the distance, is probably a memory from the artist’s youth, when his father was a railroad engineer.

Although de Chirico began as a metaphysical artist, he is most often mentioned in the context of surrealism.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Spanish Surrealist painter and printmaker, influential for his explorations of subconscious imagery.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) He depicted a dream world in which commonplace objects are juxtaposed, deformed, or otherwise metamorphosed in a bizarre and irrational fashion.

Ranks as one of the most famous paintings of the 20th century. Salvador Dali Ranks as one of the most famous paintings of the 20th century. The Fourth Dimension

The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dali Dalí referred to his work as “hand-painted dream photographs” his imagery often came directly from his own dreams. The Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dali

Self-Portrait Splitting into Three 1927 Salvador Dali

Head of a Woman 1927 Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali Barcelonese Mannequin 1926-1927

Still Life by the Light of the Moon 1927 Salvador Dali

Apparatus and Hand 1927 Salvador Dali

Little Cinders (Cenicitas) 1927-1928 Salvador Dali

Nude Woman Seated in an Armchair c. 1927 Salvador Dali

Venus and a Sailor (2) 1925 Salvador Dali Venus and a Sailor 1925

Still Life - Watermelon 1924 Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali

The Picnic 1921 Salvador Dali

The Sardana of the Witches 1920 Salvador Dali The Sardana of the Witches 1920

Salvador Dali Voyeur 1921

Cabaret Scene 1922 Salvador Dali

Madrid, Architecture and Poplars 1922 Untitled - Landscape Near Madrid 1922-23 Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali Cadaques 1923

Portrait of a Seated Person Holding a Letter 1923 Purist Still Life 1923 Salvador Dali

Armenian-born American artist Arshile Gorky was strongly influenced by the surrealist movement, especially in his use of biomorphic, ambiguous forms. Flowery Mill

His works influenced the development of later American art such as abstract expressionism.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) His mature style evolved from the tension between his fanciful, poetic impulse and his vision of the harshness of modern life

Miró combined abstract shapes with partly Surrrealist fantasy. The Garden

In 1928 he traveled to the Netherlands and produced several works inspired by paintings of the Dutch masters, including Dutch Interior I (1928, Museum of Modern Art). Dutch Interior I

This brightly colored painting contains several elements typical of a 17th-century Dutch genre painting: a man playing a lute, a dog chewing on a bone, and a landscape painting on the wall. Dutch Interior I

Vuelo de pajaros Le soleil rouge Joan Miro

The Age of Enlightenment René Magritte 1898-1967 Surrealist painter whose bizarre flights of fancy blended horror, peril, comedy, and mystery. The Age of Enlightenment oil on canvas

René Magritte The Annunciation, 1930 oil on canvas, 113.7 x 145.9 cm

The Rape, 1934, oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 21 inches, collection George Melly, London René Magritte

Pavel Tchelitchew Sarane Alexandrian

Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960) The Climb Nature's Parachutes Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960)

Sub-types of Surrealism Dream art is any form of art directly based on material from dreams, or which employs dream-like imagery.

Sub-types of Surrealism Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences.

Sub-types of Surrealism Neosurrealism or Neo-Surrealism is an artistic genre that illustrates the complex imagery of dream or subconscious visions and irrational space and form combinations.

Sub-types of Surrealism Magic realism (or magical realism) is an artistic genre in which magical elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting. As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous.

Sub-types of Surrealism Psychedelic art is art inspired by the psychedelic experience induced by drugs such as LSD, Mescaline, and Psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" (coined by British psychologist Humphrey Osmond) means "mind manifesting"