reamland

Virtual Museum Ex
HUM 202
Jenn Huss

This exhibition features a collection of ten

works by artists from the surrealism period
including, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Meret
Oppenheim, Rene Magritte and Frida
Kahlo.
The surrealist movement began as a
literary experiment. Writers began
expressing themselves through automatic
writing, a practice that revolved around
the psyche. It was the Manifesto of
Surrealism in 1924 by Andre Breton, a
writer in Paris and follower of Sigmund
Freud. Breton wrote, I believe in the
future resolution of these two statesoutwardly so contradictory-which are
dream and reality, into a sort of absolute
reality, a surreality, so to speak, I am
aiming for its conquest, certain that I
myself shall not attain it, but too
indifferent to my death not to calculate the
joys of such possession. For the time
being, my intention has been to see that
justice was done to that hatred of the

Surrealism quickly expanded from poetry,

prose, etc. to paintings, sculptures and
drawings. Surreal art was an explosion of the
imagination, bringing to life peoples obscure
alternate reality, an alternate reality that is
believed to exist in every human beings mind.
Thoughts that were often left repressed in the
Utilizing
the
fromsociety.
psychologist,
mind
now had
a concepts
gateway into
Sigmund Freud, surrealists were able to start a
new expression. Likewise, it was the surrealism
movement that gave light and attention to
Sigmund Freud who studied the human mind,
especially the analysis of dreams. The
combination of Surrealism and Freuds theory
created a form of art that was not the
traditional form of beauty. Surrealism
transformed normal objects and people into a
dreamlike reality, creating an abstract beauty
that was more appreciated with the help of
Freudian theory.
Sigmund Freuds theory of psychoanalysis
involved ideas such as the unconscious,
fixations, defense mechanisms and dream
symbolism. He believed the mind was divided
into two parts: the conscious and the

Salvador Dali:
Known for his vivid imagination,
method
Salvador Dali was born in Figueres,
Spain in 1904. It was Dalis shocking
depictions of dreamlike landscapes
that created a lifelong career of
surreal images and literary works. His
attention to detail and distinct
approach to art made Salvador Dali
the face of surrealism.
Salvador Dali attended a
prominent art academy in Madrid and
in 1929 he became apart of the
Surrealist movement. Dali quickly
gained recognition for his
controversial art and public antics. He
was an eccentric artist whose
presence was easily noticed.
In his paranoiac-critical method
during the 1930s, Dali used images
infused with hidden meanings based
on his obsessions and fears. Dali once
said, Surrealism is destructive, but it

paranoiac-critical

(May 11, 1904-January 23,1989

Soft Construction with Boiled Beans

(Premonition of Civil War)
Medium: Oil painting on canvas
Location: Philadelphia Museum of
Art, Philadelphia

Description:
Painted during a time of a
politically conflicted Spain, Dali
shows a creature who is
destroying itself by violently
tearing apart its limbs and is
shown in an obscurely twisted
manner. A feeling of pain and
violence seeps out of the
painting. Dali used this figure to
show the horror of the Spanish
Civil War. This is one of the few

e Persistence of Memory
Medium:
Oil painting on canvas

Location:
The Museum of Modern Ar
New York

Description:
Painted in 1931, this is one of his most recognized works. Dali
demonstrates his theory of the unconscious mind in relation to time.
By utilizing the hardness of the landscape, Dali is able to represent
the softness of the melting clocks to show their lack of composition
in a dream. The distortion of the clocks is also believed to represent
Einstein's theory of relativity who referred to time as complex and not

Metamorphosis of
Narcissus
Medium:
Oil Painting on
canvas
Location:
Tate Modern, London

Description:
This painting shows Dalis interpretation of the Greek mythological story
of Narcissus. Who, according to Greek Mythology, fell in love with his own
reflection in a pool, unaware that it was a reflection. Unable to look away
from the image, Narcissus eventually dies. Completed in 1937, Dali also
wrote a poem to accompany his painting, Narcissus, in his immobility,
absorbed by his reflection with the digestive slowness of carnivorous

Joan Miro:

(April 20, 1893 December

25, 1983)

symbolic and poetic

Born in Barcelona, Spain, Joan Miro is
a well known surrealist painter, sculptor
and ceramist . Miro devoted his life to
painting after being stricken with typhoid
fever in 1911. While attending La Lonja
School of Fine Arts, Miro visited Paris for
the first time and was introduced to the
art of Surrealism.
During 1929-1930, Miro began
experimenting with different mediums
such as lithography, water colors, pastels,
and painting over copper. Surrealism has
not at all conventional art and it is
especially demonstrated through the
imagination of Miro.
Joan Miro creates Biomorphic
Abstraction artworks. This term came
about during the 20th century art world.
This is when an artwork focuses on takes
organic shapes and transforms them into
what would appear abstract.

The Farm
Description:
Miro said, in regards to
this painting a
summary of my entire
life in the countryside ,
the summary of one
period of my work, but
also the point of
departure for what was
to follow. Painted in
1921, Miro worked nine
months on this painting
and his work shows
every object without
any confusion. It is
these objects that
would appear in future
works as representing a
certain meaning, for
example the ladder in
the picture often

Medium: Oil painting on canvas

Location: National Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C

Description:
Painted in 1926, Miro
demonstrates his style
of biomorphic
abstraction. The
emphasis placed on
the green sky area is
usually described as
the arms of a
person. Also the colors
that he uses brings
about an inverted
element to the
painting as a whole.
Also the liner
components are used
to bring scale and
space to the picture.

Person Throwing a Stone at a

Bird
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: The Museum of Modern Art, New

Meret Oppenheim:

feministic

surrealism
After moving to Paris in 1932,

Oppenheim discovered surrealism after

meeting Alberto Giacometti and Hans
Arp, who were also apart of the
surrealism movement. She is described
by other surrealist artists as being the
embodiment of a surrealist woman.
Oppenheims works had a similar
motif which involved feminine objects
such as heels, gloves, etc. Meret
Oppenheim started out as a model for
Man Ray, a fellow surrealist artist. Her
first exhibit was in 1936 at the Galerie
Sohulthess. Here she displayed every
(October 6, 1913 November 15, 19
day objects in obscure and provoking
ways.
Though controversial and peculiar,
Oppenheim was one of the leading
figures of the surrealism movement.
Her artwork brought accessibility to the
unconscious mind and brought dreams

Object
Medium: Fur covered cup,
saucer and a spoon
Location: Museum of
Modern Art, New York

Description:
Beginning as a conversation between Pablo Picasso and herself, Picasso
made a remark saying that anything could be covered in fur. Oppenheims
response was that even a spoon and saucer could be covered in fur. So
with that idea, Oppenheim created this work and displayed it in her
exhibit. As a result, many people had their attention drawn to this artwork

Rene Magritte:

ovember 21, 1898 August 15, 1967)

provoking

thought-

Many of Rene Magrittes early art

pieces were inspired by Pablo Picasso.
After the death of his mother in 1912,
Magritte decided to study at the
Academie des Beaux-Art in Brussels.
After dabbling in the art style of
impressionism, Magritte moved to Paris
to be apart of the Surrealist movement.
Magritte had a witty personality that
translated in his paintings. He often
used a bit of humor in his pieces which
provoked art observers to think about
the images represented. Magritte was
one of the few surrealist artists whose
art transitioned into pop culture.
He once said, If the dream is a
translation of waking life, waking life is
also a translation of the dream.
Magrittes artwork was compelled by the
idea of what the eye sees and how what
we see covers up what really exists. His
thought-provoking art remains desired

Medium: Oil on canvas

Location: Private
collection

Description:
Painted in 1964, Magritte painted
this self-portrait using some
peculiar features including a
twisted left elbow, a slightly
exposed eye and a hovering
green apple. Magritte had an
interest in the notion that things
that are hidden are often covered
by what we actually see. This is
evident with the apple partially
covering the face of the man. It is
apparent that there is a face

The Son of
Man

The Treachery of Images

Medium: Oil on canvas

Location: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los
Angeles
Description:
This painting is another example of Magrittes interest in an objects
representation. The texting on the painting, written in French, means, This is
not a pipe. He once said, its just a pipe representation, is is not? So if I
had written on my picture :This is a pipe, Id have been lying. Magrittes

The False Mirror

Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: The Museum of Modern Art, New
York
Description:
Painted in 1928,
surrealists during this
time used an obscure
combination of images to
represent the images that
exist in the unconscious
mind. In this painting, the
eye is all that represents
that rest of the face and is
accompanied by a cloudy
sky. Perhaps this is
representative of tapping
into the unconscious mind
by visualizing it; the main

Frida Kahlo: painted life

(July 6, 1907 July 13, 1954)

Born in Mexico City, Frida was well

known for her self-portraits and
different renditions of herself which
reflected her feelings during certain
points of her life. I paint myself
because I am so often alone and
because I am the subject I know best.
She was a self-taught painter who
often painted the pains she went
through in her life including multiple
miscarriages, medical operations, and
her marriage. At a young age, Kahlo
experienced a great deal of pain when
she was in a bus accident and suffered
for about three months and found her
release through painting while she was
unable to do anything else.
Frida was introduced to Andre
Breton, who invited her to display her
work in Paris in 1939. Her surrealist
style of art was expressed not through
her dreams, but her painful

The Two Fridas

Medium: Oil on canvas

Location: Museum of Modern Art,

Description:
In 1939, Frida was going
through a divorce with
Diego. She painted this
during this difficult time in
her life and her feelings are
represented within this
piece. Painted in 1939 at the
time of her divorce from
Diego Rivera. The painting
represents two versions of
Frida, one the right is who
Rivera fell in love with while
on the left is the Frida that
he divorced. Surrealism is
represented in this piece
through the dreamlike sky
line and vivid representation
of Fridas heart displaying
her emotions.

Pictures:
http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/
1168-2
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80997
http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/index.html
http://www.renemagritte.org/the-son-of-man.jsp
http://www.renemagritte.org/the-treachery-of-images.jsp

References:
1.. Salvador Dali. Philadelphia Museum of Art , 15 May 2005. Web. 11
Dec 2013.
<http://www.philamuseum.org/micro_sites/exhibitions/dali/downloads/ed
u/imagePacket.pdf>.
2.Chadwick, Whitney. "MoMa." Museum of Modern Art . Oxford University
Press, n.d. Web. 11 Dec 2013.
3."The Two Fridas ." The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. WETA, n.d. Web.
11 Dec 2013.
4."Renemagritte.org." Rene Magritte-Biography, paintings quotes. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 11 Dec 2013.
Kettenmann, Andrea. Frida Kahlo 1907-1954:Pain and Passion.
Rochester,NY:
Taschen,Art
1999.
Print.Time. Annenberg Foundation, n.d.
5."Annenberg
Learner."
Through
Web. 11 Dec 2013.