Surrealism Art Period

Beginnings and Influential Members

The Surrealism art period started around 1924 with the publication of Le Manifest du Surrealism by Andre Breton.In the book Andre Breton describes "psychic automatism" which is a means of self expression through writing or art. Psychic automatism is when artists delve into subconscious thought which helps artists break the barriers of logical thought also freeing their works of other taboos and inspiring ones imagination. Paintings which came from this time period often use normal objects in abnormal ways changing the viewers perspective on said objects. The surrealism art period also had many influential and eccentric artists such as Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, And Man Ray. The surrealism era ended around 1950.

Common Themes

A common theme throughout almost all Surrealism paintings is abstract visuals to explain subconscious ideas and thoughts.

Another theme is to use very simple visuals  and objects but “stripping ordinary objects

Surrealism was often considered destructive of normal barriers in art.

The Paintings I observed

Son of Man

}Son of Man was painted by Rene Magritte who was a major figure in the surrealism art movement. When Magritte made paintings he focused more on the thoughts and emotions the painting would evoke rather than overall appeal of the painting Son of Man is no exception this painting appears to be a self portrait of Magritte with an apple in front of his face. The reason for why Magritte added the apple is to make the viewer think of what is behind the apple invoking a natural curiosity towards what we cannot see.  

Landscape with Butterflies

Landscape with butterflies is done by Salvador Dali and shows off his style of paintings with many oranges and bright reds. This painting has a major sense of juxtaposition between the colours of the “red wall” and the butterflies and sky, as well as the geometric lines of the landscape and the organic lines used to create the butterflies. The meaning of this particular painting seems is deeply connected with Dali’s connection between God and the double helix of DNA which were often found in his paintings showing a drab landscape depicting God in average life.

The Human Condition

The Human Condition is another thought provoking painting done by Rene Magritte. This painting is meant to create the illusion of reality in a painting which is often used by Rene to trick the viewers brain. Rene does this by making the viewer imagine the painting in the picture is of the outside however there is no proof the picture depicts the outside as it doesn’t really exist (the outside portion covered by the painting).

Effects of Surrealism on the World

Surrealism had some affects on society and the economy but because of bigger events which took place during this time period (such as the great depression and WWII) it is harder to see these effects. Surrealism had a big influence on other forms of art however, art forms such as film and fashion took heavy influence from the surrealism era having created dream like movies and fashion with nods to artworks such as "The Persistence of Time" and "Lobster Telephone".