Surreal artists and Surrealism
Computer assisted art
Henry Holloway
Rene’ Magritte
Max Ernst
Yves Tanguy
Surreal art was a product of the early 1920’s and was a
complete movement, revolutionizing the world of modern art. The goal of
surrealism was to provide an escape for the unconscious mind, combining
seemingly impossible realities and dreamscapes. It challenges what we’ve come
to think of as “logical” and “Sensible.” The surreal art movement gave rise to
some of the most fascinating studies ever. Some artists, like Salvador Dali,
were even psychoanalyzed by Sigmud Freud in an effort to explain their
unconscious minds and thus, why they painted the way did.
The golden age of surrealism ran right up until the beginning of world war II (Approximately 1920-1936) And has still stuck to our culture ever since. Although not as popular in America, the surrealists flourished in european countries as that is where the majority of them originated (Primarily France and Spain)
In my opinion, it is important to have surreal art (or at least a respect and appreciation for it) in our culture today because of the very nature of the art itself. This art lets loose the unconscious mind and therefore, is some of the most quintessentially human art ever produced.
Rene’ Magritte
Young Girl eating Bird.
In this painting, we see a young girl viciously devouring a
songbird, from the image depiction, it is obviously still alive. The birds in
the background just watch and sing along as the girl tears apart the bird’s
flesh with her teeth. Is this a representation for the nature of man? How we as
a species destroy all we can, even if it is beautiful?
Max Ernst
L’Ange du Foyeur
This painting depicts what looks like a giant who is dressed
or composed of simple cloths. It wears what looks to be an avian mask, and is
clearly very amused. One can deduce this from the upturned eyes and the facial
expressions it puts on. It dances around an open landscape without a care in
the world. Is this the psychological “Id” that Freud coined, the unbridled
unconscious mind that is for us, sheer pleasure?
Yves Tanguy
Indefinite Divisibility
In this work, we see a myriad od objects, none of them even
recognizable. This makes the image extremely difficult to break down and
analyze. The ground is solid, obviously. It supports these structures, but what
does it fade into? Water, sky, or both? The viewer can’t readily distinguish
the difference between where the foreground ends and the background begins.
Perhaps this emulates semiconscious thought, fading between dreams and reality.
