Early 1920s to the Present, Europe, Brandon Bravo and Christian Picon, JFK-Mrs. A - intro to Visual Arts, Fall 2013 Art

 Definition: the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations  Origin: Surrealists feasted on the unconscious. They believed that Freud's theories on dreams, ego, superego and the id opened doors to the authentic self and a truer reality (the "surreal"). Like the Dadaists, they relished the possibilities of chance and spontaneity.

Magritte's Surrealism was unique and reflected his sense of humor. Rather than depicting fantastic creatures in fictional landscapes, he painted ordinary objects and people in realistic settings. As a very young person, around six or seven years. He attended later the Athenaeum of Charleroi and He liked much to draw and paint. His mother had died when he was very young. His father liked His drawings, painting. In 1916 Magritte enrolled in the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels seeking inspiration and a safe distance from the WWI German invasion. He found none of the former but one of his classmates at the Academie introduced him to Cubism, Futurism, and Purism, three movements he found exciting. On a less visionary note, he emerged from the Academie qualified to do commercial art. Although creating ads and designs can be boring, it is steady work. Commercial jobs kept Magritte's bills paid until, decades into the future, he was able to paint "seriously" full time.

Artist: Rene Magritte Completion Date: 1964 Place of Creation: Belgium Genre: self-portrait Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: 116 x 89 cm Gallery: Private Collection Le fils de l'homme

Artist: Rene Magritte Completion Date: 1953 Place of Creation: Brussels, Belgium Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: 100 x 81 cm Gallery: Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, US

La reproduction interdite Artist: Rene Magritte Completion Date: 1937 Place of Creation: Brussels, Belgium Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: 81.3 x 65 cm Gallery: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

 Dalí was a good, technical painter. In the 1920s, he read Freud, took up with other emerging Surrealists, and began actively seeking his subconscious mind so as to paint the visions there. The results of his (self-induced) hallucinogenic states are highly realistic paintings of a bizarre dream world.  Upon recognizing his immense talent, Dalí's parents sent him to drawing school at the Colegio de Hermanos Maristas and the Instituto in Figueres, Spain in He was not a serious student, preferring to daydream in class and stand out as the class eccentric, wearing odd clothing and long hair. After that first year at art school, he discovered modern painting in Cadaques while vacationing with his family. There he also met Ramon Pichot, a local artist who frequently visited Paris. The next year, his father organized an exhibition of Salvador's charcoal drawings in the family home. By 1919, Dalí had his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theater in Figueres.

Artist: Salvador Dali Completion Date: 1946 Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: 89.7 x cm Gallery: Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium

Artist: Salvador Dali Completion Date: 1944 Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: 51 x 41 cm Gallery: Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid, Spain

Artist: Salvador Dali Completion Date: 1933 Technique: oil Material: canvas Dimensions: x 346 cm Gallery: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

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