WWI left an indelible mark on whole Europe. Together with the political and economical devastation, the post-war period was characterized by a traditional morale crisis and disintegration of patriotic values.
Works like Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West" and Paul Valery's "The European Hamlet" appeared, marking the need for critique of culture, as well as rethinking the European idea as a whole. Gradually groups of radical youngsters, pacifists and ultimate experimenters appeared.
After the horror of the war, their ideals and patriotism were replaced with hatred towards society and a desire for destroying the old structures - from the state with its
institutions to art and language with their rational laws.
There are several key periods that shape the face of surrealism:
In 1916, in Zurich, the "Dada" movement was born, with Tristan Tzara as its founder. The movement was characterized by the rebellious spirit of its founders and the total denial of the surrounding reality.
"There are no painters, no writers, no musicians or sculptors, no religions or republicans, no royalists, no imperialists, no anarchists and socialists, no politicians or democrats, no armies, no police, no parties; this is the end of all this idiocy, there's nothing anymore, nothing,
nothing, nothing, nothing" (Tristan Tzara in the Dada manifest).
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Dada Manifest,1917
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After moving to Paris in 1920, Tzara met a group of Frenchmen, who published the "Literature" magazine and who were ready to contribute actively to Dada's destructive rebellion. These included André Breton, Louis Aragon, Philippe Soupault. Yet, several scandals later on lead to Tzara's leaving the group and the forming of a new style - surrealism.
Meanwhile another circle of artists with similar vision formed in Belgium (René Magritte, Marcel Lecomte and others). After Magritte moved to Paris, he started communicating with Breton and the whole surrealist circle.
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| Tristan Tzara - "Crevelman, 1918 |
Of course each new movement has to have its own manifest, so was the case with surrealism:
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| The first Surrealism Manifest, Andre Breton, 1924 |
Some pointers from the manifest and its philosophy:
- Denial cannot be a goal, only means to clearing the space where the new will be build on
- Looking for a way to discover and give voice to the unconscious (Freud's influence)
- Automatic writing/ painting
- Escape from rationality
- Dream analysis
"Surrealism is based on the belief in a supreme reality, on some neglected associative forms, on the power of sleep, of free play of the mind. Its goal is to destroy all other psychic mechanisms and replace them in solving all basic problems of being".
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"Surrealism is not a literary movement, but an attempt to create a new way of life, new personal and social behavior. On one hand, the goal is catharsis, on the other - the creation of works of art in all areas."
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| Salvador Dali - "The meditative Rose", 1958 |
In 1925, the Bureau de recherches surrеalistes (Bureau for Surrealist Research) was founded, headed by Antonin Artaud and described as "an inn for extraordinary ideas and permanent revolutions".
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| Andre Breton and his Surrealist group, posing for a photo at the gate of the Desert, 1960 |
The Bureau's goal was to attract and make as much people as possible to change their way of life and thinking.
"You who have lead in your heads, melt it to make from it surrealist gold"
Due to such campaigns, the surrealist group quickly grew and became more popular not only in France but beyond. New artists joined - Juan Miro, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Luis Buñuel and many others, who gradually shaped the image of the movement.
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| Juan Miro - "Le Coq", 1940 |
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| Salvador Dali - "The persistence of memory", 1954 |
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| Rene Magritte - "The son of man", 1964 |
The influence of the surrealistic style can be seen in all spheres of art in the middle of the 20th century. Magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Fortune used a number of surrealist-inspired covers.
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| 1937 |
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| 1939 |
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| 1947 |
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| 1937 |
The fantastic images, as if taken from someone's dream, turned out to be attractive both for artists and audience. The bright colors, the various shapes and the freedom of expression neglecting all norms became more and more popular. The rebel spirit, on the other hand, was perceived more like a result of genius and eccentricity, rather than bad nature and lack of discipline.
photo max ernst
The surrealist movement did not pass cinema as well. Some of the most prominent surrealist experiments include:
Entr’acte by René Clair (1924)
La Coquille et le clergyman by Germaine Dulac, screenplay by Antonin Artaud (1928)
An Andalusian Dog by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí (1929)
The Sea Star by Man Ray (1928)
The Golden Age by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí (1930)
The blood of a poet by Jean Cocteau (1930)
Advertising
With the advent of surrealism, advertising gained a special and powerful expressive resource, that made design possibilities almost endless. As early as the 50s, posters with surrealist motives started to appear.
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| Polish cinema poster, 1964 |
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| Polish cinema poster, 1985 |
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| "On a clear day you can see forever" film poster, starring Barbara Streisand and Yves Montand |
The Mexican Railways and Singer also started producing series of surrealist inspired ads.
Musicians played a big role in popularizing surrealism, by using surrealist works of art for their album covers. Still the most exploited author remains Rene Magritte
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| Firesign Theatre, Just folks...A firesign chat, 1977 |
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| Jackson Brown, Late for the sky, 1974, |
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| Jeff Back Group - Beck-Ola, 1975 |
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| Styx, The Grand Illusion, 1977 |
Around 1969 the surrealist group started falling apart due to disagreements between members when Andre Breton started to sympathize the communist ideology. However the surrealism as a style continued its existence thanks to its multiple followers. The rebellion against rationality and its norms, the turning towards unconscious forms of expression turned out stronger and longer
lasting than its pioneers expected. In the beginning of the 21st century surreal images are still one of the basic means of creative expression in visual arts.
Some other contemporary ads include:
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| A Honda print advertisement |
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| The Elephants, 1948 |
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| Tentation, 1946 |
Lexus LX 570 SUV campaign / ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney/
Apart from visual arts and graphic design, the surrealist paradigm can be found in product design, furniture and fashion design.
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| Minimalist chair, 2008 |
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| Zippy T-shirt with Magritte's comic art paintings |
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| Jordan sneakers with motives by Juan Miro |
Surrealism undoubtedly had a huge influence on visual arts. But it is so successful not only because of its stylistic characteristics, but because of the philosophic platform behind it. The sphere of the unconscious has always been a riddle and therefore a constant subject of interest.
Integrating images from dreams and the unconscious into works of art turned out to be not only practical but aethetically innovatory. The fantastic images, the deformed figures, the personal stories and memories make surrealistic works of art revolutionary and liberating. There are no norms, no restrictions or taboos, just a freedom of expression and imagination at work.
Nothing is impossible
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| Rene Magritte, Castle in the Pyrenees, 1959 |
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