Surrealism

A movement in the visual arts and literature that flourished in Europe between World Wars I and II.

SURREALISM
Exploration of ways to express in art the world of dreams and the unconscious
Inspired by Freud and Jung - interested in the nature of dreams In dreams, people moved beyond the constraints of society Artists role: to bring inner and outer reality together

Two forms of Surrealism: Biomorphic (interested in life forms): Joan Miro Naturalistic (recognizable scenes of nightmare or dream images): Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali

Dali, The Crucifixion, 1958.

Two Forms of Surrealism

Biomorphic or Abstract Surrealism (Miro, Masson, Matta) Automatism dictation of thoughts without control of the mind Abstraction Originated from the experiments in chance and automatism carried on by Dadaists and Surrealist writers. Naturalistic or Illusionistic Surrealism (Dali, Tanguy, Magritte)

Recognizable scenes and objects

that are taken out of natural context, distorted and combined in a fantastic dreamlike way. Sources: Henri Rousseau, Chagall, Ensor, de Chirico, the Romantics

SURREALISM
A style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, in which fantastic visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the artwork logically comprehensible. Involves fantasy & dreams Is illogical Stresses the subconscious Automatism to allow your subconscious mind to take over in your art. Demented sense of humor
1924 1950s (between World Wars I & II) Europe (especially France and Spain) Founded in 1924 by poet and critic Andre Breton who published The Surrealist Manifesto: join the world of fantasy to the everyday rational world in an absolute reality, a surreality. Breton adapted the theories of Sigmund Freud- dream analysis the unconscious is the wellspring of the imagination. Magritte, Time Transfixed, 1938.

Rene Magritte (1898-1967)

Mother committed suicide when Magritte was 14 Known for placing realistic objects together in absurd combinations

Rene Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964.

Rene Magritte The Human Condition 1933.

Rene Magritte The Human Condition 1935.

Jacques Louis-David, Madame Recamier, 1800.

Magritte, David's Madame Recamier, 1950.

Rene Magritte The Therapist 1941.

Rene Magritte, The False Mirror, 1935.

Magritte, The Lovers (2), 1928.

Salvador Dali
At the young age of 10, Dal first began painting
Dal embraced all the science of painting as a way to study the psyche through subconscious images. He called this process the Paranoiac Critical Method. As any paranoiac, the artist should allow these images to reach the conscience, and then do what the paranoiac cannot do: Freeze them on canvas to give consciousness the opportunity to comprehend their meaning.

Dies of heart failure in 1989

The images of Salvador Dali are very realistically rendered. He was a superb draftsman and used that ability to create a dreamlike or nightmarish reality of his own.
This image called Soft Boiled Beans was also said to be his premonition about the Spanish Civil War.

Dali, Soft Boiled Beans, 1936.

Decay and death are symbolized by a dead tree and a strange sea monster decomposing The limp watch indicates that someone has the power to twist time as he or she sees fit.
Bottom Line: in time, everything will die and decay except time itself

Dali, The Persistence Of Memory, 1931.

Salvador Dali, Disintergration of The Persistence Of Memory, 1954.

Dali Atomicus (Dali With Everything In Suspension), 1948 (Philip Halsman).

Salvador Dali,
Cannibalism in Autumn, 1926-27.

Salvador Dali, The Slave Market (Bust of Voltaire), 1940.

Salvador Dali, The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, 1937.

Jean-Francois Millet, The Angelus 1857-59.

Dali, Archeological Reminiscence of Millet's Angelus, 1933-35.

Salvador Dali, The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1946.

Joan Miro
Organic forms that expand and contract visually Used automatism - planned accidents Element of hallucination Very abstract, almost child-like images

Combination of unconscious and conscious image-making

Miro, Le Petit Rose, 1933

Joan Mir, A Dew Drop Falling from a Bird's Wing Wakes Rosalie, who Has Been Asleep in the Shadow of a Spider's Web. 1939.

Joan Miro Dutch Interior I

1928.

Joan Miro, Harlequins Carnival, 1924-25.

Exquisite Corpses

Lessons from the Surrealist Movement

Apocalyptic Digital Collage

Collect 15 images of interesting textures or landscapes.
What to do with these pictures?

Eventually we are going to use

these textures to build a landscape, Ex. Tire treads, sand dunes, bricks, leaves, rocks, lightning, lava, tornados, etc.

Create a folder in youre my

Documents called Surrealist Project. When you find all 15 images, save them to your surrealist folder. Open a new document named Apocalyptic Surrealist Collage. Select areas you like from the pictures using a selection tool. Copy and paste, drag or open these images into the empty document. Arrange, crop, erase, warp these images to make your landscape. Fill all the space.

A landscape is a picture of a place.

You need to find pictures that will eventually make a sky and a ground.

Examples

Requirements for Collage

Requirements
Minimum 10 pictures needed to come together to make the collage. all pieces must fit together to make one picture. Not a collection of squares of pictures put together. Must be a standard size 8 x 12 inch document. You need a horizon line.

What to look for

Different Textures Different Objects Different Landscapes

Apocalyptic Symbols

Ideas to Search For

Dessert Water Rocks Clouds Shooting Stars Natural Disasters Tree Bark Leaves Plants Hair Hardwood Floors Jungle Grass Volcanoes Wallpaper Cereal Food Animal Skin Tornadoes Lightning Fractals Diamonds Trash Rain