What is Surrealism?

Surrealism is an art movement that began in the 1920s, emerging from Dada and influenced by Freud’s theories on dreams and the unconscious. Founded by André Breton, it sought to liberate imagination by exploring the irrational and illogical.

Key figures included Salvador Dalí, whose works featured melting clocks, stork-legged elephants and lobster telephones, and René Magritte, celebrated for his extraordinary juxtapositions, as seen in L’empire des lumières. Max Ernst and Joan Miró contributed with fantastical landscapes and biomorphic forms, while Yves Tanguy created enigmatic, abstract worlds.

Man Ray explored Surrealism in photography, and Hans Bellmer’s unsettling dolls challenged conventional representations of the human body. Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo incorporated mystical themes and personal narratives, expanding the movement’s vision. Surrealism influenced literature, film and later art movements, challenging perceptions of reality and inspiring avant-garde creativity.

What are the characteristics of Surrealist Art?

Surrealists used dream-like imagery, unexpected juxtapositions and automatic techniques to express the subconscious. It spanned diverse mediums, including painting, photography, sculpture and literature. In painting, artists like Dalí and Magritte combined realism with the bizarre to create mysterious, ambiguous worlds. Surrealist photography, explored by Man Ray and Dora Maar, used double exposures, unusual perspectives and photomontages to distort reality. Surrealist literature, pioneered by André Breton and Paul Éluard, utilised automatic writing and poetic imagery to express the subconscious mind.