Surrealism Painting Art Tech 1201

Origins of Surrealism Surrealism began after Dadaism. Dadaism began in Switzerland and spread to France, Germany, Spain, and the U.S. The movement began around 1916 and continued until about 1920. The artists known as Dadaists thought that World War I was a terrible thing.

Origins of Surrealism They thought it was ridiculous for people all over the world to spend years killing each other. Because the war shaped the world in which these artists lived, this distaste for WWI became a distaste for the state of the world. The Dadaists protested war and current culture through their art.

Origins of Surrealism Writers began the Surrealist movement. In 1924, Andre Breton explained it in his Surrealist Manifesto, and artists began to paint in the style he described. Surrealists wanted to free their minds of rational thought, to write or paint the ideas that were buried deep in their minds. These artists did not wish their work to make simple, logical sense.

Surrealism Surrealism is an invented word—"sur" means beyond or farther than, so "surreal" means to go beyond real. Surrealism tried to meld the conscious and the unconscious, the world of dreams and fantasy along with reality so that the line between these ideas was completely blurred.

Surrealism Many artists of this time felt the unconscious was where the true center of art lay, and that artists could tap into this genius by bending and softening the lines between what one's eyes see and the dreamworld. Much of Surrealistic art portrays alternate realities; some created by accident, some using the unusual realities of blind feeling and impulse.

Surrealism Some of the art of this time is quite cruel and violent as well as very beautiful. The artists, like the Dada artists before them, wanted to shock their viewers with the unexpected and make people think in new ways.

Surrealism Max Ernst (German, 1891- 1976) Capricorn

Surrealism M.C. (Maurits Cornelis) Escher (Dutch, 1898-1972) Drawing Hands 1948

Surrealism Salvador Dalí The Persistence of Memory 1931

Surrealism Handscape Painting You will draw your hand from life. You will choose a mood (or feeling) for your painting. You will then place your hand drawing in a fantasy setting. Use the elements of design to make your landscape look realistic, yet unusual. Choose paint colours that properly portray the mood you have chosen.