Surrealism

Surrealism

Artistic Movements, Periods and Styles in 5 Points

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Surrealism

 

• Surrealism is “what is above reality.” It is the exploration of the mysterious universe of the unconscious. Let’s remember that Freud was causing a true revolution at that time. “Surrealism” was already in use in 1917, but we can say that the Surrealist movement started in 1924, when André Breton wrote the famous Surrealist Manifesto.
• In that manifest, Surrealism is defined as “psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express —verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner— the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by the thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.” That means creating by liberating the unconscious. It does not matter what type of art it is, what style or if it is an abstract or figurative work, the motto is creating from instinct.
• We consider that the previous definition is crucial when discussing whether a certain author or work is Surrealist or not. As an example, “an unreal, absurd situation, in an oneiric environment” is Surrealist if it is the product of the liberation of the unconscious of the artist. But it is not necessarily Surrealist if the artist, rationally in a well thought manner, puts each element with a symbolic sense —as Frida Kahlo did—. In conclusion, Surrealism can be “more pure” or “less pure,” according to the degree of automatism. For Breton, the most Surrealist artist was Miró.
• Surrealists considered that Giorgio de Chirico was a great inspiration. The metaphysical painter wanted to represent the mystery of what exists beyond the visible reality. In his oneiric scenes —like dreams—, everything is disturbing, enigmatic, threatening. In turn, Surrealist psychic automatism would later be the fundamental creation technique for movements such as Abstract Expressionism in the United States and Informalism in Europe.
• Although the term “psychic automatism” encompasses, in general, the way of creating automatically, without rationality. There is a specific, particular technique that some have practiced, and it is called “exquisite corpse”: a collective creation where an artist begins a work and gives it to another artist, who continues it without looking what the previous one did.

 

Representative artists: Miró, Ernst, Dalí, Magritte, Domínguez, Duchamp, Arp, Masson, Delvaux.

Image: Dutch Interior I (1928). Joan Miró

 

Recommended links:

Psychic Automatism.

Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting: The Persistence of Memory,  Salvador Dalí.

Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting: The Treachery of Images, Magritte.

The Exquisite Corpse Game.

Constellations by Miró.

Wonderful Female Painters: Leonora Carrington (1917-2011).

The “Avant-garde” Movements.

When does Modern Art Start?

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