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Surrealism
A 20 century art and literature movement characterized
th

chiefly by the juxtaposition or use of dreamlike elements

Vladimir Kush, Chess

 SURREALISM
to “release the unconscious”
Exploration of ways to express in art the
world of dreams and the unconscious
Inspired by Freud and Jung - interested in
the nature of dreams
In dreams, people moved beyond the
constraints of society
Artists’ role: to bring inner and outer reality
together

Two forms of Surrealism:

Biomorphic (interested in life forms): Joan
Miro
Naturalistic (recognizable scenes of
nightmare or dream images): Rene Magritte,
Salvador Dali

Dali, The Crucifixion, 1958.


Magritte, Time Transfixed, 1938.
SURREALISM
A style of art and literature developed
principally in the 20th century, in which
fantastic visual imagery from the
subconscious mind is used with no intention
of making the artwork logically
comprehensible.
Involves fantasy & dreams
Is illogical
Stresses the subconscious
Automatism – to allow your subconscious
mind to take over in your art.
Demented sense of humor
1924 – 1950s (between World Wars I & II)
Europe (especially France and Spain)
Founded in 1924 by poet and critic Andre
Breton who published The Surrealist
Manifesto: join the world of fantasy to the
everyday rational world in “an absolute
reality, a surreality.” Breton adapted the
theories of Sigmund Freud- dream analysis
the unconscious is the wellspring of the
imagination.
 How did Surrealism develop?
• The influence of Sigmund Freud—free
association, dream analysis and the hidden
unconscious
• Automatic writing/automatic drawing
• The surrealist manifesto, 1924
• Surreal writing, visual art, films
Salvador Dali 1904 – 1989
 Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali
At the young age of 10, Dalí first
began painting

Dalí embraced all the science of

painting as a way to study the
psyche through subconscious
images.

He called this process the

Paranoiac Critical Method. As any
paranoiac, the artist should allow
these images to reach the
conscience, and then do what the
paranoiac cannot do: Freeze them
on canvas to give consciousness
the opportunity to comprehend
their meaning.

Dies of heart failure in 1989

 Salvador Dali

The images of Salvador

Dali are very realistically
rendered. He was a
superb draftsman and
used that ability to create
a dreamlike or
nightmarish reality of his
own.

This image called Soft

Boiled Beans was also
said to be his premonition
about the Spanish Civil
War.

Dali, Soft Boiled Beans, 1936.

 Salvador Dali

Decay and death are

symbolized by a dead
tree and a strange sea
monster decomposing

The limp watch

indicates that someone
has the power to twist
time as he or she sees
fit.

Bottom Line: in time,

everything will die and
decay except time itself

Dali, The Persistence Of Memory, 1931.

Salvador Dali, The Persistence Of Memory, 1931.
Salvador Dali, Disintergration of The Persistence Of Memory, 1954.
Philippe Halsman, The Dali Atomicus
 Rene Magritte

Rene Magritte
(1898-1967)
Mother committed suicide
when Magritte was 14
Known for placing realistic
objects together in absurd
combinations

Rene Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964.

 Rene Magritte

Rene Magritte
The Human
Condition
1933.
 Rene Magritte

Rene Magritte
The Human Condition
1935.
Jacques Louis-David, Madame Recamier, 1800.
 Magritte, David's Madame Recamier, 1950.

 
Rene Magritte 1898 - 1967
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937.
André Masson. Automatic Drawing. (1924). Ink on paper, 9 1/4 x 8 1/8" (23.5

x 20.6 cm). Museum of Modern Art, New York.

 Levitation: Floating

Dematerialization near the nose

of Nero. 1947.
 Transparency:
“see through”

Rene Magritte, The human

condition
Change in scale: making something
unusually large or small for the setting
Transformation: change; altering the appearance

Salvador Dali, The persistence of memory

 Dislocation:
Placing
something in an
unexpected
place
Rene Magritte, Time transfixed.
1938.
Juxtaposition:
putting things
together in
unusual
combinations

Frida Kahlo. My dress

hangs there. 1933.
Examples
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali
 Destino
by Walt Disney and Salvador Dali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFkN4deuZU
 2 Point Perspective

Painting by Tetsuya Ishida