The key aspect discussed is Surrealism a cultural movement, which was inspired by what was actually happening in the world around this time – 1924. It has been revealed that it was partially set up as a reaction to the chaos and horrors of World War 1. In fact, Surrealism developed out of the Dadaism movement and is very similar to Dada art, nevertheless Surrealism is specifically renowned for its visual artworks and writings.
Based on the ideas of André Breton (n eurologist) it can be said that he was the founder of Surrealism. He kept records of his own patients’ dreams and wrote down the rambling things they said in an effort to study about the subconscious.
Surrealism was further on influenced by the work of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the father of psychoanalysis. Freud offered the world the notion of dreams and its impact on the subconscious. He came up with the concept that the subconscious thoughts were constantly represented in our everyday dreams. Artists and writers around the world were motivated to explore this innovative theory. Surrealist artists, through their art, sought to liberate the creative human mind by eliminating reasoning and logical thinking while exposing the unconscious. Surrealists felt a sense of freedom of expression. Another essential point is that they took a drastic, innovative, anti-art approach that also defied old-fashioned artistic values and excluded balanced thoughts and order. According to writer Guillaume Apollinaire, surrealism means ‘above and beyond reality – truth beyond realism’ and is created on the higher level of dreams, the symbolic language of the subconscious.
K
ey features
Surrealist art consists of bizarre scale, (changing the normal scale of objects) dreamlike subject matter, double images (sometimes upside down), unexpected juxtapositions and combination of objects (transform one object into another). Surrealist artists were interested in portraying the world of dreams, hallucinations, longings/cravings and imagination. They chose to let their imagination go wild and run free.
Famous artists
Artists such as Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) and Rene Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967), used very ordinary items painted in a recognised, lifelike style and juxtapositions them in awkward places in their art, – (that were somehow impossible), expressing their art in the way things may happen in dreams. Similarly, Dali was often shocking in his true life. Dali reasoned that in order to be a surreal artist he had to live his life in a surreal manner. On one occasion, he presented a press conference with a boiled lobster on his head while on another occasion he went to a costume party dressed as a rotting corpse. Other famous surrealist artists such as Joan Miro and Max Ernst also contributed to surrealist art. Furthermore, surrealism continues to influence many artists today. Lasting effects of surrealism teaches us how to balance and interact between the Spiritual, psychological, and physical planes of our live.