Surrealism: A Journey into the Unconscious
Origins
Emerging between 1920 and 1930, Surrealism officially appeared in 1924 with André Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism. Initially a literary and philosophical movement, it soon incorporated painters. Growing out of Dadaism, Surrealism reflected a nihilistic protest against Western culture, emphasizing the creator’s unconscious in a more structured and serious way. It sought to express the unconscious world of dreams and hidden thoughts.
Inspired by dreams and fantasies, Surrealists were influenced by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. They saw reality as hidden in dreams, blending past, present, and future into a chaotic and irrational mix. This manifested more effectively in painting than in literature, spreading the movement globally.
Characteristics
- Focus on the inner world, not external reality.
- Inspiration drawn from the artist’s mind, not rationality.
- Subjects based on past experiences and objects grouped over time.
- Emphasis on the unconscious, making it challenging to understand.
- Rooted in literary and artistic creativity during a time of crisis.
- Works featuring unknown reason and free thought, with poetry playing a significant role.
- Rejection of morality, tradition, and bourgeois culture.
- Ambiguous imagery open to multiple interpretations.
Causes
Following World War I, Dadaism reflected discontent with traditional art and the world. Surrealism emerged from this context, embracing the irrational and unconscious. It replaced Dadaist nihilism with Freudian concepts. The movement’s voice was the magazine Litterature (1919), led by poets like André Breton, Philippe Soupault, Louis Aragon, and Paul Eluard. Surrealism officially began in 1924 with Breton’s manifesto, which emphasized the unconscious as the source of imagery.
According to Breton, there were two approaches to material: dreams and automatism. Ideas and images appeared spontaneously, without coherence. Techniques like frottage (rubbing) by Max Ernst and grattage (scraping) resulted in seemingly meaningless images. Dreams, where anything is possible, served as the primary inspiration, leading to paintings without logic, order, time, or space.
From 1925, Surrealism linked with communism, with figures like Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, Paul Eluard, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, and Tristan Tzara. Other notable artists included Hans Arp, Joan Miró, René Magritte, André Masson, Alberto Giacometti, Victor Brauner, Wifredo Lam, and Roberto Matta.
Figurative styles emerged with Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, and René Magritte, featuring real objects in absurd compositions. Abstract Surrealism, represented by André Masson, Joan Miró, and Yves Tanguy, used lines and forms without recognizable objects.
Later Developments and Legacy
After 1930, discord arose over the relationship between Surrealism and communism. In 1933, Breton, Eluard, and Crevel were expelled, followed by Dalí in 1936 for his fascist leanings. Despite this, the International Exhibition of Surrealism in Paris showcased the movement’s diverse output. During World War II, Surrealists migrated from Europe, with Breton, Ernst, and Masson going to the US, influencing Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.
Concept and Influence
The 1924 manifesto defined Surrealism as “pure psychic automatism” expressing “the real functioning of thought.” The emphasis on the unconscious and dreams connected it to psychoanalysis. The movement sought to reconcile psychoanalysis and Marxism, breaking with mental and artistic conventions.
Surrealism’s aesthetic influence reached writers in Spain, including Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Vicente Aleixandre. It also spread to the Canary Islands, Catalonia, and Latin American countries, with figures like Pablo Neruda, Olga Orozco, César Vallejo, Alejo Carpentier, and Octavio Paz.
Authors and Works
= Andre Breton (1896-1966): French poet, critic animator founder and undisputed leader of Surrealism. komo known guerdian the orthodoxy of S, was a master of thought. It was Father kalifikado komo”S”. 1921 publiko its 1st surr ..”work camps”in the k Magnetik explore the possibilities of hypnosis. in 1924 is”the first manifesto surr ..”and”La révolution Surréaliste magazine.”works: land clearing, La union free, air water, States General, Ode to Charles Fourier. Louis Aragon (1897-1982) poet, novelist and essayist, french, born in Paris, was one of the leaders of Dadaism and Surrealism. His works unfinished novel, The Easter, With Time to Die, White or oblivion, Theater-Fiction. Soupault Philippe (1897-1990) French writer wrote with k Peim Breton the text of Surrealism, Dada-old follower ke multipliko his poetic success. His Works: The Wind Rose, Westwego, the good apostle, Georgia, the black, The last nights in Paris, History of a target, the Great Man, etc.. Andre Breton:”Surrealist Manifesto”. Antoin Artuard:”The Theater and Its Double.” Paul Eduard Capital”pain.” Paul Valery:”Carmenes.” Jean Paul Sartre:”flies.” Robert Desnos:”The cemetery.” Sigmund Freud:”Psychology of the Flies.” Vicente Huidobro:”The Mirror””Altazor water.” Pfilippe Soupault:”Compass rose.” Federico Garcia Lorca: Poet in New York”.” Vicente Aleixandre:”Blade as Lips.”