How Surrealism Made its Mark in History

March 11, 2024 Razvan Chiorean

Art Movement, learn

Nine members of the Surrealist group, 1933 Paris, France. From left to right: Tristan Tzara, Paul Éluard, André Breton, Jean Arp, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, René Crevel and Man Ray

The Surrealist movement emerged as a rebellion, echoing the spirit of defiance prevalent in the European avant-garde of the 1920s. In response to the rationalist arrogance of the late 19th century that fueled World War I, poets and artists, disillusioned with the stagnant state of Dadaism, declared their own movement in 1924: Surrealism. Coined by Guillaume Apollinaire in 1917, the term found its guiding force in André Breton and his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, primarily a literary movement.

Max Ernst’s masterpiece The Triumph of Surrealism, oil on canvas. Held in private collection. © PROLITTERIS, ZURICH/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK.

Focused on linguistic experimentation, Surrealism delved into the subconscious to unleash the power of imagination. Embracing Dadaist anti-rationalism, Surrealists employed dreams and fantasies to give form to works expressing anxieties and desires through eccentric and symbolic shapes. Rejecting rationalism and literary realism, Surrealism drew inspiration from psychoanalysis, notably Sigmund Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" (1899) and the essay "The Uncanny."

Salvador Dalí, The Elephants (1948), oil on canvas

Influenced by the recent past and primitivism, Surrealists explored diverse techniques such as automatic drawing, writing, collage, frottage, grattage, and decalcomania to craft improbable images. The inaugural group exhibition in 1925 featured artists like Giorgio de Chirico, Hans Arp, Max Ernst, Paul Klee, Man Ray, André Masson, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Pierre Roy. The movement expanded to the United States in 1931 and gained international recognition with the 1938 International Surrealist Exhibition in Paris, organized by André Breton and Paul Éluard.

René Magritte, La Décalcomanie, 1966© Adagp, Paris 2016 © Photothèque R. Magritte / Banque d’Images, Adagp, Paris, 2016

As Surrealism made its mark in history, it influenced North American art, shaping Jackson Pollock's automatism and action painting and anticipating the advent of Pop Art through an interest in object manipulation. Over forty years, Surrealism evolved alongside new currents in the 1960s, contributing to the second wave of the European avant-garde, with Nouveau Réalisme as a prominent representative, alongside Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.

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