Surrealism was an artistic movement that began in the 1920s which aimed to express unconscious thoughts and dreams through art. Artists like Andre Breton, Salvador Dali, and Rene Magritte created dreamlike and fantastical works using techniques like automatic drawing and frottage to channel their subconscious minds. While early Surrealist works focused on automatism, later artists like Dali and Magritte produced meticulously realistic images filled with symbolic and hallucinatory elements. However, feminists have criticized Surrealism as a fundamentally male movement that marginalized and objectified women in its depictions.

1. Surrealism
“I believe in the future
resolution of these
two states, dream and
reality, a surreality, if
one may so speak.” –
Andre breton- First
Surrealist Manifesto.

2. What is Surrealism?
• The word surrealism comes from the
French word super realism. The
Surrealists wanted to create art that
included their unconscious thoughts and
dreams. Instead of thinking too much
about what they are painting, they
preferred to set their imaginations free.

3. Giorgio di Chirico
The Child’s Brain
1914

4. Surrealist Manifesto
• The Surrealism movement began in 1924 with Andre
Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto.
• “Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one
proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written
word, or in any other manner -- the actual functioning of
thought. Dictated by the thought, in the absence of any
control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic
or moral concern.” –Andre Breton

5. Historical Context
• The Surrealism movement
was influenced by the ideas of
Freud.
• It grew out of the Dadaism
movement in many respects.
• Many artists were influenced
by major events such as World
War I and the Great
Depression.

6. Characteristics
• General Characteristics include:
• the element of surprise
• free association
• uncensored thought
• dream-like subject matter
• spontaneous techniques
– Examples: automatic drawing, frottage, and
decalcomania.
However, Surrealism was a very individualistic
movement and each artist added their own style
and meaning.

7. Automatic Surrealism
• In the beginning of the Surrealism
movement, one technique of Surrealism,
Automatic Surrealism, was prominent.
• It was used as a means to illustrate the
subconscious. In this art, the hand can
move freely and randomly across the
canvas.
• Max Ernst coined the term frottage, which
is also used in this automatic style of
Surrealism.

8. Automatic Drawing
Andre Automatic Drawing 1924
•Automatic drawing- moving a pencil
or brush randomly across the
canvas.

9. Frottage
Isaac Bingham
Palm Tree
Frottage
•Frottage- A pencil
rubbing made by
putting paper over
a textured surface.

10. Decalcomania
Oscar
Dominguez
Untitled
•Decalcomania-
pressing
textured
material or
objects into a
wet, painted
canvas.

11. Andre Messon Meditation on an Oak Leaf

12. Andre Masson Battle of the Fishes 1927

13. Joan Miro, Carnival of Harlequin, 1924

14. Joan Miro The Hunter (Catalan Landscape) 1923-1924

15. • Max Ernst After The Rain

16. Max Ernst Gray Forest
1927

17. Illustionistic Dream Imagery
The automatism used by Masson and
Miro, and Ernst’s “frottage” technique
dominated the first year of the Surrealism
movement. However, artists like Rene
Magritte, Yves Tanguy, and Salvador Dali
emerged with a new style in Surrealism.
Quite different from previous artists, these
artists focused on hallucinatory and
fantastic subject matter in meticulously
and realistically portrayed images.

18. Salvador Dali The Persistence of Memory

19. Salvador Dali Temptation of Anthony

20. Salvador Dali Sleep 1937

21. Salvador Dali
Autumnal
Cannibalism
1936

22. Rene Magritte The Lovers 1928

23. Rene Magritte Le Faux Mirior 1928

24. Rene Magritte
The Son of Man
1964

25. Rene Magritte The Treachery of Images 1929

26. Yves Tanguy Mama, Papa is Wounded! 1927

27. Yves Tanguy
Indefinite Divisibility
1942

28. Yves Tanguy
Extinction of Useless Lights
1927

29. Feminist Criticisms of Surrealism
Feminists claim that the Surrealist
movement was fundamentally a male
movement despite the occasional few
celebrated female Surrealist painters and
poets.
They believe that it adopts typical male
attitudes towards women. For example,
many artists portrayed women in a
stereotypical way, following sexist norms.
A pioneer of the feminist critique of
surrealism was Xaviere Gauthier. Her
book, Surrealisme et Sexualite inspired
the importance of scholarship related to
marginalization of women in relation to the
avant-garde. The criticisms were of
women having much more subordinate
roles in comparison with the men.