Surrealism 1924

Originally a literary movement, it explored dreams, the unconscious, the element of chance and multiple levels of reality. “more than real” “better than real”

WHY Surrealism in 1924? What was happening in the world around this time?

WHY Surrealism in 1924? What was happening in the world around this time? World War I ( ) Sigmund Freud

Physically and psychologically, WWI destroyed Western civilization Countries Involved: Australia Austria Belgium Bulgaria Canada France Germany Great Britain Greece India Iraq Italy Japan Montenegro New Zealand Poland Portugal Rhodesia Romania Russia Serbia South Africa Turkey United States

“The logic, science and technology that many thought would bring a better world had gone horribly wrong. Instead of a better world, the advancements of the 19 th century had produced such high tech weapons as machine guns, long- range artillery, tanks, submarines, fighter planes and mustard gas.” (source: Janson)

Staggering destruction and loss of life TOTAL WWI CASUALTIES: 11,016,000

Sigmund Freud ( ) The father of psychoanalysis In 1900, Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams, and introduced the wider public to the notion of the unconscious mindThe Interpretation of Dreams theorized that forgetfulness or slips of the tongue (now called "Freudian slips") were not accidental at all, but it was the "dynamic unconscious" revealing something meaningful. He said “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.”

Andre Breton Poet “Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of the dream”

Surreal Odd Illogical Irrational Exciting Disturbing

Reaction to chaos of WWI Influence of Freud: Dreams and subconscious Impossible scale Reversal of natural laws Double images Juxtaposition Characteristics of Surrealism

Where? France, Germany, Catalunya, Belgium Artists Max Ernst Salvador Dali Joan Miro Man Ray Rene Magritte

Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904–1989)

The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, 1937, Salvador Dali This painting is Dalí's interpretation of the Greek myth of Narcissus. Narcissus was a youth of great beauty who loved only himself and broke the hearts of many lovers. The gods punished him by letting him see his own reflection in a pool. He fell in love with it, but discovered he could not embrace it and died of frustration. Relenting, the gods immortalized him as the narcissus (daffodil) flower.painting

For this picture Dalí used a meticulous technique which he described as 'hand-painted color photography' to depict with hallucinatory effect the transformation of Narcissus, kneeling in the pool, into the hand holding the egg and flower. Narcissus as he was before his transformation is seen posing in the background. The play with 'double images' sprang from Dalí's fascination with hallucination and delusion.photography

Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory 1931 Time is the theme here, from the melting watches to the decay implied by the swarming ants. The monstrous fleshy creature draped across the paintings center is an approximation of Dalís own face in profile. Mastering what he called "the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling," Dalí painted this work with "the most imperialist fury of precision," but only, he said, "to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality." There is, however, a nod to the real: The distant golden cliffs are those on the coast of Catalonia, Dalís home.

Salvador Dali Apparition

Rene Magritte (Belgian)

Rene Magritte

René Magritte Les valeurs personnelles (Personal Values) 1952

René Magritte La Chambre d'écoute (The Listening Room) 1952 (impossible scale)

“Carte Blanche,” Rene Magritte Rene Magritte Carte Blanche

Concepts of unconscious realities and dream interpretation in Surrealism is further emphasized by Sigmund Freud's contributions to the new order of thought. Rene Magritte Ceci n’est pas une pipe The Treachery of Images is painted when Magritte was 30 years old. The picture shows a pipe. Below it, Magritte painted, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" French for "This is not a pipe." The painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe. The Treachery of Images belongs to a series of word-image paintings by Magritte from the late 1920s. He combined images and text in a style that displays his early career in advertising. Like the other artists and poets associated with the Surrealist movement, Magritte sought to overthrow what he saw as the oppressive rationalism of the middle class society. His art during these essential years is at times violent, frequently disturbing, and filled with discontinuities. He was frequently using methods that included the misnaming of objects, doubling and repetition, mirroring and concealment, and the depiction of visions seen in half-waking states-all of them devices that cast doubt on the nature of appearances, both in the paintings and in reality itself. The persistent tension Magritte maintained during these years between nature and artifice, truth and fiction, reality and surreality is one of the profound achievements of his art.

The Lovers II, 1928 by Rene Magritte

Rene Magritte (Reversal of Natural Laws)

Ideas for your Surrealist Collage a) change the normal scale of objects (ex: a car the size of a living room or bugs the size of people) b) turn the accepted order of things upside down (ex: dogs walking people instead of people walking dogs) c) mix internal and external space (ex: trees growing in a kitchen, seeing the inside and outside of an object at the same time) d) transform one object into another (ex: a car turning into a fish, an animal turning into a person)

Examples of surreal student work

Student Example- Alicia

Student Example- Jackie

Student Example- Lisa

Student Example- Alicia

Student Example- Lisa

Student Example- Renee

What is your idea? Start with a well thought-out creative idea. Throwing two random things together doesn’t necessarily qualify as surreal. Use QUALITY photographic images from the internet. If it looks grainy on your screen, don’t use it! Avoid images from popular culture such as famous people, name brands and retail products that will distract the viewer. Use your selection tools carefully so all images have smooth edges and there is no visible transitions. Consider background, middle ground and foreground.