The art movement that challenged rational thought and reality.

Surrealism  An Art movement that began in the 1920’s.  These artists were inspired by the creativity of children, the mentally disturbed, and their own subconscious mind which included dreams, fears, and neurotic behaviors.  Surrealist artists wanted to challenge the border between reality and fantasy. They wanted to create paintings that defied reason and challenged rational thought.  Some Surrealist painters also wanted to uncover the hidden subconscious mind with their paintings.  As a result, their paintings resembled dream like imagery full of symbols and “impossible” or “illogical” situations.  While some artists tried to paint images with a camera like realism, Surrealist painters wanted to paint images that resembled dream-like hallucinations.

Salvador Dali The Eye, 1945Rock and Roll, 1957

Salvador Dali  Born in Spain in Died in 1989  Studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, but was later kicked out for his outrageous behavior.  Dali joined the Surrealist movement in  As a Surrealist painter, he attempted to depict his subconscious mind with the use of dream inspired imagery.  In addition to his dreams, Dali was also inspired by his fears. Some included fears of the following: insects, crossing streets, trains, boats, mortality, germs, and human touch.

“Hand Painted Dream Photographs”  Often times Dali would make paintings of his dreams immediately upon awakening.  He would often place a blank canvas by his bed, and stare at it for minutes prior to going to sleep. Once he wakes up, he would immediately begin painting.

The Subconscious  Thought processes and associations that determine our behaviors, fears, likes, and dislikes, etc. These thoughts and processes occur just below our consciousness, without our direct awareness, but they are believed to influence all of our daily decisions and actions.  Dali wanted to uncover the subconscious with his use of dream and fear inspired imagery.

The Hand, 1930

Anthropomorphic Chest of Drawers, 1936

Cannibalism in Autumn,1937

Dream, 1937

Apparition of a Face and a Fruit Dish, 1938

Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, 1940

Ballerina in Death’s Head, 1939

Atavistic Traces, 1934

Apparition of the Town of Del, 1936

Rider of Death, 1935

Bacchanale, 1939

The Eye, 1945

Ghost of the Evening, 1934

The Three Sphinxes of Bikini, 1947

Ghost of Vermeer, 1934

The Persistence of Memory, 1931