A Brief History of Surrealist Art

Perhaps the most famous artist to come from the Surrealism movement is Salvador Dali. Dali was influenced by the Dada movement, but his most famous painting, Persistence of Memory, is a Surrealistic piece that is still studied by art students across the country. Persistence of memory features melting clocks, which are often interpreted to mean that time is less rigid than we think it is.

Although Dali is famous for his Surrealistic works, the found of Surrealism is Andre Breton. Breton founded Surrealism in 1924, a movement that was influenced by the work of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Both Freud and Jung’s work focused largely on the subconscious, an aspect of spirituality that many Surrealistic artists attempted to capture.

The anti-art, anti-rational Surrealist style was also captured by Bretons’ automatic writings, which were published in Littérature, a book of dream interpretations and automatic writings. Breton also authored the Surrealist Manifesto, which was published in 1924.

A defining piece of art, one that is believed to distinctly separate Cubism and Surrealism, is The Kiss, which was painted by Max Ernst in 1927. The Kiss is a wonderfully erotic art piece that was created during the same time he became a husband. The lines of the piece were determined by dropping a piece of string on the canvas, which is a great example of Surrealist anti-art.

Giorgio de Chirico began painting in a style that was later picked up by Surrealist artists. In 1913, de Chirico painted The Red Tower, a piece which has been noted for its stark lines and contrasting colors. De Chirico also published a surrealist piece of literature, named Hebdomeros. Hebdomeros is a novel that resembles a dream, using nonsensical grammar and syntax to paint Surrealist images in the minds of its readers.

Another famous Surrealist art piece is Rene Magrittes’ Treachery of Images, which is distinctly rebellious and wonderfully thought-provoking. The painting is simply a painting of a pipe, with the words "Leci n’est pas une pipe", or "this is not a pipe" written under it. The piece is an excellent example of the idea that images are simply images, and that because the pipe looks like a pipe does not mean it is.

Andre Masson was also famous for his automated writings, which were often completed when Masson was in an altered state of consciousness, and Masson would go to great lengths to work unencumbered by conscious thought.

Marcel Duchamp is also famous for his surrealistic painting, and has been studied intensely. Duchamp’s most famous work, Nude Descending a Staircase, is a beautifully modern piece, with roots in Cubism and well as Futurism. Duchamp has also been noted for his sense of playfulness in art, and had created pieces from such bicycles and urinals.

The surrealistic movement was born in Paris, during the onslaught of WWI. As a rejection of the brutality of the war, which was believed by the artists to be caused by too much rational thought, the artists began their anti-art, anti-rational movement. The movement transcended the 1920’s to become a part of everyday culture, and can now be seen in mass media and literature across the world.