UMK-Art & Culture: Surrealism (1924-1980)

“An archaic term. Formerly an art movement. No longer distinguishable from everyday life.” – Brad Holland

What was it about? What were the goals?
The word surreal means strange, especially a weird combination of things you normally wouldn’t see together in real life, but more likely in a dream – a concept known as juxtaposition. The goal of this movement was to foment social revolution. Many of its members began as Dadaists, so, much of what they said and did didn’t make sense. Nevertheless, their ambitions were political, and the move from Dadaism to Surrealism is often explained as a move from political anarchy to communism. One leader of the Surrealists, the writer André Breton, said, “Long live the social revolution, and it alone!”
Breton defined Surrealism as “pure psychic automatism” in which the artist tries as much as possible to give up control of what he is doing, letting his subconscious make the work. If this sounds like blind scribbling, that’s how it looks:

Automatic Drawing by André Masson, 1924

Surrealists compared this to musical improvisation. Of course, most Surrealist art wasn’t quite so messy or unfinished, but, if you look closely, you’ll see they used this as a starting point. Other innovations to automatic art included rubbings, where paper was placed over uneven surfaces so that the texture would show through in the drawing, and decalcomania, where various prints were stamped on the work.

Central to Surrealist art was a fantastic use of juxtaposition as well as pareidolia––seeing images in abstract shapes, especially faces. Artists like Dalí used pareidolia to give multiple meanings to shapes. A blob could be a tree, a mountain, and a person’s face all at the same time.

None of this was meant to make art, per se. Surrealists didn’t care about aesthetics or decoration. This was still anti-art, and they viewed these new works as a form of psychological research, to serve as evidence for their social and political views. Breton felt this new art form was a better strategy for social revolution, because automatic art making was seen as a more honest and personal form of expression. Surrealist artists embraced their subconscious, without fear. It was a form of personal liberation, where you could finally be yourself, and not worry how others judge you. Dali said, “There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” Dalí and Breton thought, if people could accept these ideas, they would become more, honest, enlightened, rational, benevolent and peaceful. Scribbling for social change may sound crazy, but it actually kind-of worked. Sort of…

A bit of historical context:

The French playwright Apollinaire first used the term Surrealism in 1917, when describing his and other works. This is one of the few times where an art movement was coined by a follower, rather than a critic.

André Breton cofounded this movement, writing (in his definition) the first Surrealist work, Magnetic Fields, in 1919. His motive came from his experiences in WWI. André had been a student of psychology when he was drafted into the war. He became a doctor, examining soldiers suffering from insanity, then known as “shell shock”. Through Freud’s theories, Breton became fascinated with the subconscious, and wanted to explore it through automatic drawing and writing, as a way to learn who we are deep down, and what we need to be happy.

After the war, Breton and other Dadaist writers and anti-artists came back to Paris. There, in 1924, these artists formed two competing Surrealist factions, one led by Breton and the other by Yvan Goll, each with its own manifesto. Goll and Breton actually fought in the street over who could use the term Surrealist, and Breton won. Hardly anyone even knows what was in Goll’s manifesto anymore.

Besides his manifesto, Breton and his comrades wrote a journal called La Révolution Surréaliste, which had twelve issues from 1924-29. They also formed a center for Surrealist research, where they experimented with hypnotism, and kept an archive of their works. The first Surrealist art exhibit was held in Paris in 1925.

By 1928 many of the core members broke from the group, based on different political opinions – which goes to show, exploring your subconscious is no guarantee that people will get along any better. Breton supported Leon Trotsky, while Dalí supported the fascist dictator Franco in Spain – Dalí was expelled from the group for this. Others supported Stalin. The group splintered to pieces, and each went his separate ways, even as they gained recognition and continued showing art in London, New York ,and elsewhere. After WWII, Breton turned his back on communism, choosing to return to his roots as an anarchist.

Salvador Dalí, wearing a diving suit at the London International Surrealist Exhibition, in 1936.

Fun fact: he almost died from suffocation there, as no one knew how to take the helmet off.

The underlying philosophy of the period:

The main idea of this movement was that one could use automatic art making as a form of psychotherapy, not only to know who you really are, but thereby, to help you find answers to all of life’s questions. It’s all buried somewhere in your head, and you just have to let it out, and if the whole world got into it, this could change people’s perceptions, bring greater freedom, and shape humanity into a better society. It’s all rather romantic if you think about it.

How was it represented in the other arts – music, architecture, film, and literature?

There were several Surrealist writers, including Breton, Apollinaire, Artaud, Aragon, Crevel, Péret, and Lorca. There were also several famous Surrealist films, directed by Buñuel, Dalí, Man Ray, and Cocteau. They filmed Un Chien Andelou and L'Age D'Or. Some composers experimented with Surrealism, including Martinu, Satie, Souris, and Varèse.

Was it great?

It was wild. Certain works are absolutely great, but Surrealism was all about experimentation, and not every experiment succeeds. Funny enough, a lot of the work feels repetitive – the same long-legged blobs walking drunkenly through an empty wasteland with blue skies and funny little shapes and lines scattered about, and the occasional insect. Dalí and Magritte are the two exceptions who consistently made new and surprising artworks that required actual skill and time to produce.

Some leading figures:

Francis Picabia (1879-1953)

Jean (Hans) Arp (1886-1966)

Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978)

Man Ray (1890-1976)

Max Ernst (1891-1976)

Joan Miró (1893-1983)

André Breton (1896-1966)

André Masson (1896-1987)

Rene Magritte (1898-1967)

Yves Tanguy (1900-1955)

Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) (filmmaker)