Surrealism

1. SURREALISM

2. Almeda, Jodi
Ranjo, Veron
Tiangco, Antoinne

3. “I do not understand why, when I ask for a
Grilled lobster in a restaurant, I am never
served with a cooked telephone.”
Salvador Dali

4. SURREALISM
● “Above and beyond
reality”
● It seeks to release the
creative potential of
the UNCONSCIOUS
MIND.
● It rejects logic and
reasoning
“Lobster Telephone” (1936)
Steel, plaster, rubber, resin, and
paper
178 x 330 x 178 mm
Salvador Dali

5. ORIGIN (Late 1910s →
Early 1920s)
A Literary Movement
● It experimented with
“AUTOMATISM”
Officially consecrated by Andre
Breton in 1924 (Paris)
It became an international,
intellectual and political movement
Andre Breton
French writer, poet and
fascist

6. ORIGIN (Late 1910s →
Early 1920s)
Influenced by SIGMUND FREUD
● Artists, writers and poets were
inspired to explore the conscious
and subconscious mind
Sigmund Freud
Austrian Neurologist

7. CHARACTERISTI
CS OF
SURREALISM

8. Write whatever
comes to your mind
without stopping or
structuring your
thoughts
Put together crazy
things that people
wouldn’t normally
associate one
another
Accept irrationality
as a big part of a
human being’s
identity
AUTOMATIC
WRITING
JUXTAPOSITI
ON
IRRATIONAL

9. It is the source of
the irrational and
the source of
creativity
The dream world is
where strange
things happen
Escape the old,
corrupted ways of
thought and enter
new ways of
thought that would
be more productive
rather than
destructive
REVOLUTIONTHE
UNCONSCIOU
S
DREAM AND
FANTASY

10. Surrealist
literature reflects
the craziness of the
war
Dadaists also
wanted to destroy
the old cultural
forms and create
new ones
It defines the
movement and
gives it expression
THE 1ST
MANIFESTO
OF
SURREALISM
WORLD WAR
I
DADAISM

11. LEADING
ARTISTS AND
THEIR
FABULOUS
ARTWORKS

12. ANDRE BRETON
CONTRIBUTIONS: The 1st Manifesto of Surrealism
ART STYLE: Fusing art and culture, using symbols for self-
expression
ARTWORKS: Cadavre Exquis, The African Mask, Poeme
Objet, Poeme, and Egg in the Church or The Snake

13. “The Egg in the Church or the
Snake”
Andre Breton
Photographic Collage

14. ANTONIN ARTAUD
CONTRIBUTIONS: Theatre of Cruelty, first surrealism
film
ART STYLE: targeted all five senses, expressive, lighting,
sound, movement, and mysterious
ARTWORKS/WORKS: The Seashell and the Clergyman
and The theatre and its double

15. “The Seashell and the
Clergyman”
(1928)
Antonin Artaud

16. JOAN MIRO
CONTRIBUTIONS: invented a new kind of pictorial space
and balanced spontaneity and automatism in surrealism
ART STYLE: bold and expressive, poetic, and harsh
ARTWORKS: The Tilled Field, Maternity, The Ear of
Grain, The Farm, and The Beautiful Bird Revealing the
Unknown to a Pair of Lovers

17. “The Tilled Field” (1923)
26 x 36.5 in
Joan Miro
Oil on Canvas

18. René Magritte
CONTRIBUTIONS: Became a leading figure in the
surrealist movement. Paved the way to a new form of
illusionistic surrealism practiced by Salvador Dali
ART STYLE: Powerful paradox (beautiful in simplicity
and in clarity but mysterious) , words and images
employed together
ARTWORKS: The son of Man

19. “The Son of Man” (1964)
116 cm × 89 cm (45.67 in × 35 in)
René Magritte
Oil on Canvas

20. SALVADOR DALI
CONTRIBUTIONS: The idea that life is the greatest form
of art
ART STYLE: Themes of eroticism, death, and decay,
religious symbols, animal imagery, and fetishes
ARTWORKS: The Persistence of Memory, Archeological
Reminiscence of Millet's 'Angelus', The Enigma of William
Tell, Lobster Telephone, etc

21. “The Great Masturbator”
(1929)
43.3 x 59.1 in
Salvador Dali
Oil on Canvas

22. “The Persistence of
Memory” (1931)
9.5 x 13 in
Salvador Dali
Oil on Canvas

23. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Breton’s “The Second Manifesto of Surrealism”: added
more principles to the Surrealist Movement
1. “Coincidenta Oppositorium”: breaking down
opposing binaries
2. Marxism: achieving psychological freedom
through social and economic freedom
3. Delirious Love: passionate commitment liberates

24. INFLUENCE AND LEGACIES
● A WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE AND SPREAD QUICKLY
● JOSEPH CORNELL
- Used surrealism to form “shadow boxes”
● ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
● POP ART
● CONCEPTUALISM
● COMPUTER ART
● ELEMENTS FOUND IN SITUATIONISM AND IN THE
FEMINIST MOVEMENT
● STILL ALIVE AND EVEN USED IN MODERN TIMES

25. SURREALISM IN
THE PHILIPPINES

26. ANDRES BARRIOQUINTO
Tyrant Destroyer

27. DANNY CASTILLONES SILLADA
Rodin ‘s Le Penseur II

28. JOSE SANTOS III
Paper Dolls

29. CRITICISM DURING THAT
TIME

30. Criticism before
FEMINISM - Believed that it is a male movement and a male
fellowship, believing it adopts typical male attitude towards
women.
FREUDIAN - to Freud surrealism was about their conscious
work and not their unconscious mind.
SITUATIONIST - They were surrealist themselves and were
critical of the movement, they also continued the surrealist
praxis.

31. ARTWORK

32. EVALUATION
STRENGTHS:
● You can use your imagination
● You can express it in different ways
● They were simplistic
WEAKNESSES:
● You can’t understand the message easily
● It was mysterious
● It could have multiple meaning to different
people

33. REFERENCES
“List of Top 10 Surrealist Artists.” History Lists,
http://www.historylists.org/art/list-of-top-10-surrealist-
artists.html.
Mann, Jon. “What You Need to Know about Surrealism, beyond
Dalí.” Artsy, Artsy, 23 Sept. 2016, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-
editorial-what-is-surrealism.
“Salvador Dalí Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art
Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-dali-salvador.htm.
“Cornell Joseph Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art
Story, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-cornell-joseph.htm.
“All You Need to Know About the Surrealist Movement.”
Widewalls, www.widewalls.ch/surrealist-movement/.
“Surrealism - Later Developments.” Carbon, Energy, Greenhouse,
and Atmosphere - JRank Articles,
www.science.jrank.org/pages/11373/Surrealism-Later-
Developments.html.
Tate. “Surrealism – What Is That? | Tate Kids.” Tate, Tate, n.d.
www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/what-is/surrealism.
Voorhies, James. “Surrealism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art
History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–, Oct.
2004, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm