WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT?
Surrealism is an avant-garde artistic movement that succeeds Dadaism.
It appeared after the First World War (around 1920-1925) and lasted until 1966.
In 1924, André Breton published his famous work "Manifesto of Surrealism" where he defined the surrealist attitude as a "pure psychic automatism" where one seeks to express "the real functioning of thought".
Soon, a group of artists will be created and form the first surrealists.
Among the first surrealist painters, some of whom did not stay long in this movement, we can mention Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and René Magritte.
They are influenced by the symbolism of the nineteenth century, naturalism and cubism.
They are opposed in reaction to the Dadaist movement that precedes them.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A SURREALIST PAINTING?
Surrealism was born in opposition to Dadaism.
It presents itself as a artworks that comes from the mind and the intellect, but without any control on the part of the artist, and without concern for the beauty, aesthetics or moral significance of the work.
In this way, the surrealist painting is often poetic and represents unspeakable things, uncontrolled, from the dream and the unconscious.
The figures of the dreamer, of sleep, of the unconscious, of the imagination, of delirium and madness are recurrent in the surrealist works.
One recognizes a surrealist painting by this type of subject which are always present in the paintings.
The symbols are also very strong and numerous in a surrealist work.
The exploration of the dream world and the thought freed from any control is characteristic of this movement.
THE INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS IN SURREALIST WORKS
The principle of surrealism is based on the theory of the unconscious developed by Freud.
At the beginning of the 20th century, psychoanalysis became known and of particular interest to artists and intellectuals.
The former saw it as an inexhaustible source of inspiration and a formidable theory for creating new, profound and original works of art.
From the theory of the unconscious, they explored the world of the inner self, of what is underneath the consciousness, and of the imaginary.
Dreams, for example, are a constant source of inspiration for surrealist painters.
On canvas, artists mix reality and imagination and create improbable, fascinating and dreamlike worlds.
To boost their creativity, some artists do not hesitate to use hypnosis, drugs or spiritualism.
WHO ARE THE MAIN ARTISTS OF THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT?
There are so many artists who participated in the Surrealist movement that it is difficult to reference them all.
Moreover, not all of them stayed in the movement for very long, like Picasso, Giacometti, de Chirico or Yves Tanguy.
Other famous artists who contributed to the surrealist movement include René Magritte, Joan Miro, Frida Kahlo (although she never accepted the title of "surrealist"), Max Ernst, Man Ray, André Masson, Hans Arp, Francis Picabia, Oscar Dominguez and many others.
Of course, the most famous surrealist artist today is Salvador Dali, who is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.
His works are known all over the world and exhibitions are dedicated to him every year.
Dali's work is gigantic and transdisciplinary (painting, sculpture, ceramics, tapestry, drawing, sewing, design, etc.).
Dali was a unique artist and a genius who never ceases to amaze us.
FOCUS ON SURREALIST WOMEN IN PAINTING
Surrealist women have long been obscured from the art scene.
However, many artists participated in the movement from its beginnings, around 1920.
With the emergence of gender studies at the end of the 20th century, these women artists were brought out of oblivion and reintroduced into the history of the Surrealist movement.
These artists often depict self-portraits, such as Frida Kahlo.
Among the best known are: Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Meret Oppenheim, Leonor Fini, Valentine Hugo, photographer Lee Miller, Eileen Agar, the amazing Claude Cahun, Jaqueline Lamba, Remedios Varo, draughtswoman Unica Zürn, Bona de Mandiargues and Alice Rahon.
All these artists contributed to the development of the universe and the richness of the surrealist movement.
They deserve today that we take a closer look at their works and their contribution to the history of art.
It is a real pleasure, with them, to discover new surrealist works and new artists!
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