Still in the dawn of the 20th century, artist were hungry for new thought and once again broke from classism.
Not only was Surrealism an art movement, but also a political and literary movement. The movement truly began as a literary movement with writers unleashing their deepest imagination and subconscious thoughts. The published Manifesto of Surrealism became a point of unity for the movement in 1924. The Surrealism Movement spread very quickly and to all over the globe.
Max Ernst (click on the name for a Zooming In) was a visual art Surrealist along with
Giorgio de Chirico (click on the name for a Zooming In), Joan Miro, René Magritte, André Masson, and Man Ray. These artist shocked the world with nonsensical images of the subconscious.
As described in
"First Manifesto of Surrealism", the correct definition of surrealism is as follows: "Pure psychic automatism by means of which one intends to express, either verbally, or in writing, or in any other manner, the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, free of any aesthetic or moral concern."
Max Ernst was one of the oldest Surrealist artists, as he was previously a Dadaist. Ernst was certainly at the head of the movement. In his art, the audience can notice the care taken to create the figures, landscapes, objects, etc., but they are applied to a sort of hallucination scene. The realism of these objects are enthralling and yet Ernst places them in a dream-like or nightmare-ish manner. For more information of Ernst himself click
HERE.
Man Ray was also a trailblazing Surrealist who came from a Dada background. He was the main founder of Dadaism in the United States. He worked mostly in photography. He was enamored with the ability to turn an existing figure into something that did not seem real to an audience.
Lastly, Rene Magritte was another Surrealist. He studied at the Academie Royale des Beaus-Arts in Brussels, before being taken by Giorgio de Chirico's work. He adapted an altered de Chirico's work. As seen above, Magritte liked realism, but with a twist. For example, above, the landscape and figures are perfectly realistic and believable, but that small green apple is disrupting what could have been a perfectly fine piece of portraiture.
There are so many more artist that greatly contributed to Surrealism.
Elger, Dietmar, et al. Modern Art: A History from Impressionism to Today. Köln, Taschen, 2018.
Magritte, Rene. "René Magritte." Koones, www.kooness.com/artists/rene-magritte. Accessed 20 Mar. 2021.
Ray, Man. Noir et Blanche. 1926. Artsper Magazine, blog.artsper.com/en/lifestyle/5-things-to-know-about-man-ray/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2021.
Voorhies, James. "Surrealism." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm (October 2004)
What do you think of Surrealism? Are you a fan of any of these artists? Leave a comment!!!
