Surrealism, a movement from before

Surrealism was primarily a literary movement. It later spread to the arts such as painting, sculpture, photography, and cinema. The three founders of Surrealism were André Breton (1896-1966), the poet Philippe Soupault (1897-1990), and the writer Louis Aragon (1897-1982). They founded the journal Littératures in 1919. 

In 1917, Pierre Albert-Birot (1876-1967), a friend of Guillaume Apollinaire, coined the word "Surrealism." This term was later adopted in 1924 by André Breton in his Manifesto of Surrealism. The poet and writer developed the principle of automatic writing, inspired by the theories of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). 

History and Inspirations 

This movement is closely linked to the historical context of the First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917. 

Most of the artists who joined the Surrealist movement experienced the First World War during their adolescence. They witnessed the horrors of war, endless destruction in which the powerful advocated values of progress, patriotism, and science that did not suit them.

Furthermore, future Surrealist artists were attracted by communist ideas. The fight against capitalism, militarism, and the bourgeoisie was central to the ideas of the movement's leader, André Breton. This political commitment to the Communist Party somewhat divided the Surrealist group. 

These revolutionary ideas also had their roots in Dadaism, an artistic and intellectual movement born in New York and Zurich. This provocative avant-garde movement, founded in 1916, democratized new artistic techniques such as collage, photomontage, frottage and ready-mades. 

Another considerable source of inspiration is literature, whether Guillaume Apollinaire's collection Alcools, 19th-century Romanticism, or the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and Lautréamont. 

Techniques and Hallmarks 

Surrealism is an interdisciplinary artistic movement. This movement first developed in literature and then spread to painting, sculpture, photography, and even film.

In writing, Jacques Prévert's exquisite corpses and André Breton's calligrams became distinctive features of this movement. For the visual arts and those using the camera, object collages, photomontages, and photocollages were common.

The artists give way to dreams and in these terms draw closer to 19th-century Symbolism. A welcome element of chance is also present, accompanied by Freud's studies on psychoanalysis.

Key Painters and Sculptors 

• Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

• René Magritte (1898-1967)

• Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

• Victor Brauner (1903-1966)

The date of the end of Surrealism is disputed between the end of World War II, the death of André Breton in 1966, or the group's dissolution in 1969.

During World War II, the exile of a considerable number of Surrealist artists to New York allowed the group's influence to extend overseas.

Pop Art artists, the New Realists in France, and the Abstract Expressionists drew considerable inspiration from Surrealism, which is particularly evident in the techniques used.

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