1. The art movement that challenged rational thought and reality.

2. 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.

3. Salvador Dali 1904-1989 The Eye, 1945Rock and Roll, 1957

4. Salvador Dali  Born in Spain in 1904. 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 1928.  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.

5. “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.

6. 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.

7. The Hand, 1930

8. Anthropomorphic Chest of Drawers, 1936

9. Cannibalism in Autumn,1937

10. Dream, 1937

11. Apparition of a Face and a Fruit Dish, 1938

12. Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, 1940

13. Ballerina in Death’s Head, 1939

14. Atavistic Traces, 1934

15. Apparition of the Town of Del, 1936

16. Rider of Death, 1935

17. Bacchanale, 1939

18. The Eye, 1945

19. Ghost of the Evening, 1934

20. The Three Sphinxes of Bikini, 1947

21. Ghost of Vermeer, 1934

22. The Persistence of Memory, 1931