Artur92: Surrealism

Surrealism was a cultural movement that involved many aspects of life such as art, cinema and literature that developed mainly from Dada. It started with the release of the 'Surrealist Manifesto' by poet and surrealist theorist Andre Breton in 1924. As he described, "Surrealism was a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in an absolute reality, a surreality." Surrealists used visuals to express processes happening in the subconscious mind, often taking inspiration from their dreams. It was flourishing in Europe, mainly in Paris (however, it quickly spread around the world attracting many artists, musicians and directors) between WW I and WW II.

One of the most famous and appreciated surrealist artists was Salvador Dali, who was born in 1904, Figeures, Spain. He is most famous for his paintings, however, he was also involved in a film making, sculpture and photography. As a very creative and original artist he always attracted attention of the public and art critiques.

To bring his ideas form subconscious mind, Dali, used to induce hallocinatory states in himself. It was quite efficient method for him as he developed the style very quickly and produced many paintings that made him well-known around the world.

Perhaps, one of his most famous paintings is Persistance of Time (1931). The painting shows melting pocket clocks. 'The general interpretation of the work is that the soft watches are a rejection of the assumption that time is rigid or deterministic. This idea is supported by other images in the work, such as the wide expanding landscape, and the other limp watches, shown being devoured by insects.'

I like this painting as it is quite extraordinary and really dream-like. Also it is very detailed and nice painted what give more realism to the scene.

The Temptaion of Saint Anthony (1946) is another well-known painting of Salvador Dali. The painting represents the temptaion that Saint Anthony had to face during his stay in the Egyptian desrt.

I really like this piece. It is extremely imaginative and surreal. It is also very influencial piece even today. The band Linin Park used the idea of the elephants in one of their music videos: 'Somewhere I belong'

In later years Dali concentrated on academic paintings ispired by Reneisance artist Raphael, creating religious paintings. Salvador Dali died in January 23, 1989 and today is considered to be the greatest of surrelist artists.

Famous Surrealist paintings by other artists:

Rene Magritte - The Son of Man 1964 (left) and The Human Condition 1935 (right)