Surrealism

Salvador Dali - One of the most Infamous Surrealists

Surrealism is a movement which began in Paris in 1924. The founding member was a poet by the name of Andre Breton, it came out of a manifest which he published by the name of Surrealism.

Breton study the work of Sigmund Freud who discovered psychoanalysis and was strongly inspired by his work. Freud’s work discovered a part of the human brain which stored memories and also the most basic of instincts, He identified this part of the brain as the unconscious since more often than not we are not in touch with these thoughts and they are involuntary. Breton’s goal after learning these freudian theories was to uncover the unconscious through surrealist art and make it cross over to the tactile real world. He also wanted to create social and political reform through the movement.

Surrealism did not consist of just one specific style of art although there are two definitive styles which could be identified. One style is the work of salvador and early Max Ernst and René Magritte this is more of a dream like style. The second kind is the later works of Max Ernst and works by Joan Miro, these are classified as automatism. Freud believed that what went on in our dream world was merely a reflection of our unconscious mind. The surrealists used his famous book ‘’The Interpretation of Dreams as their centre point.

Freud had a technique called free association, he used this technique with patients in order to unblock the unconscious. The term automatism was the surrealist way of expressing this practice Freud used. 

As a movement Surrealism had a great Impact on Fine art, Cinema Literature and even on other matter such as Social behaviours.

Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale - Max Ernst

Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale is an early work of Max Ernst. This mixed media collage was ahead of it’s time and was a technique that earnest was pioneering and developing. The objects used to make up this composition were all objects collected during the same year Breton published his famous manifesto which would kickstart surrealism movement. As a composition it is surrealist through and through mainly because of it’s dreamlike symbolism and its mysterious characteristics. A man is seen on the top of a roof while carrying a woman, there are also women on the side seen carrying weapons and she seems to be in a state of distress. Ernst spoke about the nightingale reflected his sisters death and hallucinations he experienced while sick in bed.

Referencing:

MoMA | Max Ernst. Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale. 1924. 2015. MoMA | Max Ernst. Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale. 1924. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/max-ernst-two-children-are-threatened-by-a-nightingale-1924. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

MoMA | Surrealism. 2015. MoMA | Surrealism. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/surrealism. [Accessed 30 January 2015].