Surrealism

VISUAL ARTS
UNIT: ART & IMAGINATION
Year 9

S. RICHARDSON
 Key features of Surrealism
 Surrealism sought to free
the imaginative human
mind and reveal the
unconscious,
encouraging radical
change and rejection to
logic and reasoning.
Surrealism literally means
‘above and beyond reality’.

S. RICHARDSON
 Key features of Surrealism
 Surrealist art
often shows
weird, bizarre,
dreamlike
subject matter
because
Surrealist artists
were interested
in depicting the
world of dreams,
nightmares,
desire, and
imagination. Salvador Dalí, The Dream, 1937
S. RICHARDSON
 Key features of Surrealism
 The movement began in Paris in the
1920s, partially in reaction to the horrors
of World War I and was also influenced
by the research and work of Austrian
neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939),
who founded psychoanalysis.

 Freud had significant influence on the

beliefs and practices of the Surrealists. He
believed that our subconscious thoughts
are symbolically represented in our
dreams and fully understand ourselves,
we need to tap into these dreams and
messages. Artists, writers and poets were
inspired to explore the conscious and
subconscious mind.
Sigmund Freud
S. RICHARDSON
 Key features of Surrealism
 Dada was a closely associated movement with
the Surrealist’s, which began in Europe around
the 1916. Both the Dadaists and Surrealists felt a
sense of freedom of expression and were
appalled by the horrors of World War I (1914-18).
They took a radical, new, anti-art approach that
also challenged traditional social and artistic
values and rejected rational thought and order.
World War II effectively ended organised
Surrealist activities in Europe. Many Surrealists
took refuge in the United States, where their
ideas influenced many younger artists including
the Abstract Expressionists. Surrealism
continues to influence many artists today.

 Surrealism developed out of the writings of a

poet called Andre Breton (1896-1966). Breton
wrote the Manifesto of Surrealism in 1924,
which highlighted the importance of the dream
state in art & writing. Breton defined Surrealism
as: Psychic automatism in its pure state, by Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917
which one proposes to express -- verbally, by
means of the written word, or in any other
manner -- the actual functioning of thought.
Dictated by the thought, in the absence of any
control exercised by reason, exempt from any
aesthetic or moral concern.
S. RICHARDSON
 Two main types of Surrealists
 The first group created artworks that were
done automatically, without thought, and
were meant to show the workings of the
subconscious mind. Freud used a method
called ‘free association’ to help patients with
mental illness. This idea was adopted by
many Surrealists, who painted whatever
came into their heads. Artists such as Joan
Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983) and Andre Masson
(French, 1896-1987) tried to achieve this in
their works through abstraction and without
reference to objects, people, places or things.

Andre Masson,
Automatic Drawing, 1924

Joan Miro, La Leçon de Ski, 1966

 Salvador Dali, One second before awakening
 The second group, which included artists such as
from a dream caused by the flight of a bee
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) and Rene
around a pomegranate, 1944
Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967), used very familiar
everyday objects painted in a formal, realistic
style and juxtapositions them in unexpected
places that were impossible, the way things may
occur in a dream.

Rene Magritte, Golconde, 1953

Salvador Dali
 Dalí’s approach to surrealism is described
as a spontaneous method of irrational
behaviour.
 Dalí uses realistic items to reveal his
dreamlike images. His paintings are
executed with great care and often depict
recognisable objects in great detail and
are usually placed in unrealistic
situations, often using distortion.
 His artistic pursuits included painting,
dressmaking, jewellery, film-making and
sculpting.
 Dali sought personal frame and was often
outrageous in his life. Dali felt he had to
live his life in a surreal manner in order to
be a surreal artist. He once gave a press
conference with a boiled lobster on his
head and went to a costume party dressed
as a rotting corpse.
 Salvador Dalí, Persistence of Memory, 1931
How many clocks can you count in Persistence of Memory?
What is surreal about this painting?
 Rene Magritte
 Magritte often used everyday objects and transformed
them, linking back to the initial function of the object.
His ability to capture the form and paint realistically
was important. Magritte paints Son of Man as a self-
portrait with a suspended apple, defying gravity. In the
rest of the setting, the brick wall, sea and sky are
normal.
 How could you interpret this painting using ideas of
psychoanalysis? What could the apple be hiding—
literally and philosophically?

S. RICHARDSON
 Rene Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964
S. RICHARDSON
S. RICHARDSON
 Ceci n’est pas une pipe
 At first glance you disregard the inscription, but then you
allow yourself to contemplate a little more and then… the
light bulb turns on. It is as said, not a pipe but a
representation of it. This painting challenges us to value
critical knowledge and processing. As humans, we visualize
images and language but almost never differentiate
between the idea of “representations” vs. reality. Humans
have this amazing capability of critically thinking, of
understanding the idea of individuality. What is
fascinating is how often we discard our “critical thinking
cap” as we are bombarded with representations of reality.

S. RICHARDSON
 TASK
Rene Magritte
Empire of Light
Critically assess this painting.

•What did you ‘see’ first?

•After contemplating what do
you now ‘see’?
•What is not right about this
scene?
•How has Magritte achieved
this deception?
•Why do you think it is
important to develop critical
thinking in Visual Arts?

S. RICHARDSON
  Miró was influenced by surrealist poetry, writing and
automatism. He created paintings, ceramic sculpture
and sets for theatre and dance.
 The Potato is a playful artwork involving the elements
of shape, movement and colour to suggest form and
space. There is a linear, floating and spatial quality
where partially identifiable organic forms interact.

S. RICHARDSON
 Joan Miro, The Potato, 1928
S. RICHARDSON
 James Gleeson
 James Gleeson is an Australian
surrealist artist who was influenced
by the psychoanalytic theories of
Freud as well as of Swiss
psychiatrist Carl Jung and André
Breton..
 For more than six decades James
Gleeson has worked in Surrealism,
exploring the possibilities beyond
the obvious and everyday objects
juxtapositioned with alternative
realities experienced through
dreams, hallucinations, and
differing mental states. Rather than
focusing on purely private fantasies,
the most significant contributions
made by Surrealist artists, including
James Gleeson, are the visionary
and profound statements that
comment on the human condition.
S. RICHARDSON
 James Gleeson,Sentinels of the Late Season, 1987

S. RICHARDSON
 James Gleeson, Fire, 1995

S. RICHARDSON
 TASK
 Sa l va d or D a l i
 Find 4 examples of his work and create a work sheet,
including the titles and dates, for your VAPD
 Choose one of these and write a story or narrative
explaining what you believe the ‘dream’ depicted in
the artwork was about.
 Describe the artwork
 what do you see?
 What colours have been used?
 Your explanation needs to be half a page of writing.
S. RICHARDSON