a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrationaljuxtaposition of images.
early 20th century: from French surréalisme (see sur-1, realism).
‘Surrealism originated in the late 1910s and early ’20s as a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing, or automatism, which sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious.‘
The term and style of surrealism first began to gain notice in Paris,1924 after French writer and poet, Andre Breton (1896–1966),, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism published the Manifesto of Surrealism.
manifesto stated : it was the means of uniting the conscious and unconscious realm
the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in a “surreality”
emphasis on psychic automatism: artist using the interplay between free creation and unconscious control
Surrealism developed into a world wide intellectual and political movement. Breton, a trained psychiatrist, along with French poets Louis Aragon (1897–1982), Paul Éluard (1895–1952), and Philippe Soupault (1897–1990), were influenced by the psychological theories and dream studies of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and the political ideas of Karl Marx (1818–1883). Using Freudian methods of free association, their poetry and prose drew upon the private world of the mind, traditionally restricted by reason and societal limitations, to produce surprising, unexpected imagery. The cerebral and irrational tenets of Surrealism find their ancestry in the clever and whimsical disregard for tradition continued by Dadaism a decade earlier.
La esfinge (‘The Sphinx’, 1988) by Davegore; Davegore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Lovers, painted in 1928, Rene Magritte. Image Source: Wikipedia
Surrealist poets were at first unsure whether to align and associate themselves with visual artists because they believed that the time consuming and tiring processes of painting, drawing, and sculpting did not encourage spontaneous uninhibited expression. However, Breton and his followers did not altogether ignore visual art. They held high regard for artists such as Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Francis Picabia (1879–1953), and Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968)‘ because of the analytic, provocative, and erotic qualities of their work. For example, Duchamp’s conceptually complex Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) (1915–23; Philadelphia Museum of Art)’ was admired by Surrealists and is considered a forerunner to the movement because of its bizarrely juxtaposed and erotically charged objects. In 1925, Breton substantiated his support for visual expression by reproducing the works of artists such as Picasso in the journal La Révolution Surréaliste and organizing exhibitions that prominently featured painting and drawing.
Surrealism aims to revolutionise human experience. It creates balance between a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement’s artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional. At the core of their work is the willingness to challenge imposed values and norms, and a search for freedom. Many surrealist artists have used drawing or writing to construct ideas and images from their unconscious minds. Others have wanted to depict dream worlds or hidden psychological tensions.( this is why you may often see a lack of faces/ recognisable facial features throughout surrealist painting, drawing, photography ect..) Surrealist artists have also drawn inspiration from mysticism, ancient cultures and Indigenous art and knowledges as a way of imagining alternative realities.
The movement’s aspiration towards the liberation of the mind as well as the freedom of artistic expressions has also meant seeking political freedom. In many instances, these artists have turned to political activism. In this way, the revolutionary concepts encouraged by Surrealism has led the movement to be seen as a way of life.
Since its inception, the ideas and art associated with Surrealism have been disseminated, embraced and re-imagined through international networks of exchange and collaboration. Surrealism’s core ideas and themes have been adapted and deemed relevant to different historical, geographical and cultural contexts, enabling it to be expressed through plural voices.
