{"id":226392,"date":"2025-08-31T07:19:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T07:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museumtv.art\/artnews\/articles\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T08:28:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:28:20","slug":"surrealism-a-movement-from-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museumtv.art\/en\/artnews\/articles\/surrealism-a-movement-from-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrealism, a movement from before"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Surrealism<\/span><\/a> was<\/span> primarily<\/span> a <\/span>literary<\/span> movement<\/span>. It <\/span>later<\/span> spread to the arts <\/span>such<\/span> as painting, sculpture, <\/span>photography<\/span>, and <\/span>cinema<\/span>. The <\/span>three<\/span> founders<\/span> of <\/span>Surrealism<\/span> were<\/span> Andr\u00e9 Breton (1896-1966), the <\/span>poet<\/span> Philippe Soupault (1897-1990), and the <\/span>writer<\/span> Louis Aragon (1897-1982). <\/span>They<\/span> founded<\/span> the journal <\/span>Litt\u00e9ratures<\/span> in 1919.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

In 1917, Pierre Albert-<\/span>Birot<\/span> (1876-1967), a friend of Guillaume Apollinaire, coined the word “Surrealism.<\/a>” This term was later adopted in 1924 by Andr\u00e9 Breton in his Manifesto of Surrealism.<\/a> The poet and writer developed the principle of automatic writing, inspired by the theories of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Andr\u00e9 Breton by Man Ray <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

History and Inspirations<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n

This movement is <\/span>closely linked<\/span> to the historical context of the First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917.<\/a><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

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, Andr\u00e9 Breton<\/a>. This political commitment to the Communist Party<\/a> <\/span>somewhat divided<\/span> the Surrealist group.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

These revolutionary ideas also had their roots in Dadaism<\/a>, 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, <\/span>frottage<\/span> and ready-mades.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Marcel Duchamp, <\/span><\/span>L.H.O.O.Q or The Mona Lisa<\/span><\/span>, 1930, graphite on heliogravure (rectified ready-made), Paris, Centre Pompidou<\/a><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

Another considerable source of inspiration is literature, whether Guillaume Apollinaire’s <\/span>collection<\/span> Alcools<\/span><\/em>, 19th-century Romanticism, or the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and <\/span>Lautr\u00e9amont<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Techniques and Hallmarks<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n

Surrealism is an interdisciplinary artistic movement. This movement first developed in literature and then spread to painting, sculpture, photography, and even film. <\/p>\n\n

In writing, Jacques Pr\u00e9vert’s exquisite corpses and Andr\u00e9 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. <\/p>\n

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Guillaume Apollinaire,<\/span><\/span> The Tie and the Watch<\/span><\/span>, Calligrams<\/a>, 1918<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

Key Painters and Sculptors<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n