Essays on Surrealism

You merely have to take a glimpse at today ‘s catwalks and manner magazines to see the unmistakable traits of Surrealism in manner. How is it so that an art “ ab initio composed of constructs and words and later of images generated in the complexnesss of the mind and subconscious imaginativeness ” ( Martin…

Largely free of production constraints, short, experimental and deliberately shocking, Un Chien andalou is considered by many to be one of the most notorious expressions of surrealism on film in the last century. At its most radical, the surrealist movement asked us to rethink fundamentally our preconceptions about cinema; to challenge and subvert. The film…

The Dadaism art movement is part of history now. The movement began in Zurich and New York around the time of the First World War. (“Dada,” n. d. ) Dadaism was aimed at the artists who felt art created spiritual values. There was a focus on the failure of this by the endless days of…

“ Surrealism was a agency of reuniting witting and unconscious kingdoms of experience so wholly, that the universe of dream and phantasy would be joined to the mundane rational universe in an absolute world, a surreality. ” Andre Breton, a major spokesman of the motion gave this announcement as the chief laminitis of Surrealism. This…

Surrealism is a dangerous word to use about the poet, playwright and critic T.S. Eliot, and certainly with his first major work, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock “. Eliot wrote the poem, after all, years before Andre Breton and his compatriots began defining and practicing “surrealism” proper. Andre Breton published his first “Manifesto…

Surrealism And Abstract Expressionism In Subconscious Manifestations The striking differences and similarities of two contemporary painters, Joan Miro and Wassily Kandinsky, were the true demarcation borders between surrealism and abstract expressionism. The two gave way to an avant-garde form of art that ultimately transcend to the core of art expression and art history.  Miro explored…

“A true painter is one who can paint extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. A true painter is one who can patiently paint a pear in the midst of the tumults of history.” -Salvador Dali (Gala- Salvador Dali Foundation 2008). Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali is considered as one of the most…

Arshile Gorky and Good Hope Road, 1945 Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky stands out among artists who have been through a dreadful life. He was an American born in Armenia and his real name was Vostanik Manoog Adoyan. Throughout his life he had seen lots of tragedies. He is considered as a bridge between America and…

Surrealism is conventionally defined as something which is ‘Unreal’. Although this textbook definition may shed a bit of light on the word’s true meaning, I can assure you that Webster’s is only scratching the surface… Partially because the definition of surreal is subjective. Each and every human being on earth perceives life and the world…

Joseph Cornell was born December 24th 1903, in Nyack, New York and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He lived primarily in New York City from 1929. A collage album made by surrealist Max Ernst inspired Cornell to make his signature boxes, something he began in the early 1930s. Cornell had no training for constructing…