Project 3.3 Art Movements

Surrealism

A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter.       

Surrealism is an artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious.

• Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality." Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself.
• Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artefact. Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.
• Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film, and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy, and social theory.

Time:

Surrealism was developed by the 20th-century literary and artistic movement. The surrealist movement of visual art and literature, flourished in Europe between World Wars I and II. 

What Are the Key Characteristics of Surrealism?
Design Elements & Principles Analysis

• The exploration of the dream and unconsciousness as a valid form of reality.
• A willingness to depict images of perverse sexuality, scatology, decay and violence.
• The desire to push against the boundaries of socially acceptable behaviors and traditions in order to discover pure thought and the artist's true nature.
• The incorporation of chance and spontaneity.
• Emphasis on the mysterious, marvelous, mythological and irrational in an effort to make art ambiguous and strange.
• Fundamentally, Surrealism gave artists permission to express their most basic drives: hunger, sexuality, anger, fear, dread, ecstasy, and so forth.

Diverse Range Of Influences

 It integrated a diverse range of influences from inside and outside of the visual arts, and is tied to the Surrealist movement by history and in its focus on the depicting the subconscious, and juxtaposition of disparate visual ideas. Widely considered influential in itself, and for its impact on later artistic movements, including Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptualism as well as in cinema and commercial illustration.

Best Known Surrealist Artists:

• Jean Arp (1886-1966)

• Hans Bellmer (1907-1975)

• Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010)

• Leonora Carrington (b. 1917)

• Joseph Cornell (1903-1972)

• Salvadore Dalí (1904-1989)

• Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)

• Max Ernst (1891-1976)

• Leonor Fini (1907-1996)

• Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

• Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

• Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982)

• René Magritte (1898-1967)

• Henri Moore (1898-1986)

• André Masson (1896-1987)

• Roberto Matta (1911-2002)

• Joan Miró (1893-1983)

• Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985)

• Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988)

• Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

• Man Ray (1890-1976)

• Kay Sage (1898-1963)

• Yves Tanguy (1900-1955)

• Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012)

Relativity

1953

by Maurits Cornelius Escher

It depicts a world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply. The architectural structure seems to be the centre of an idyllic community, with most of its inhabitants casually going about their ordinary business, such as dining. There are windows and doorways leading to park-like outdoor settings. All of the figures are dressed in identical attire and have featureless bulb-shaped heads. 

Son of Man

1964

by René Magritte

About the painting, Magritte said:

At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden.

Meditative Rose

1958

by Salvador Dalí

Roses appear in numerous Dalí works. For Dalí roses were a female sexual symbol. Dalí painted several works depicting women with their heads made of flowers. The Invisible Man and Bleeding Roses both depict women with bouquets of roses where their wombs should be.

Reference :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/surrealism/

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/s/surrealism.html

http://www.artinthepicture.com/styles/Surrealism/

http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Surrealism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm

http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Surrealism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm