These artists explored subconscious thought in order to bypass restrictions placed on people by social convention.
1922 - 1939
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The Case for Surrealism
Surrealism may be familiar from dorm room posters, but what do you really know about this movement?
Surrealism, an introduction
Identifying as agents of change, the Surrealists were interested in Freudian psychology and social revolution.
Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory
Dalí wages war on the rational in this naturalistic landscape populated by strange objects.
Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Dalí’s forms are mirrored and doubled in this disconcerting painting, made in a state of “paranoiac critical activity.”
René Magritte, The Treachery of Images (Ceci n’est pas une pipe)
This painting claims it is not a pipe… so what is it?
Alberto Giacometti, The Palace at 4 a.m.
The architectural forms of a dream are constructed as a stage set, ready to be taken apart and reconfigured.
Meret Oppenheim, Object (Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon)
This furry tea service was a touchstone for Surrealism, but the artist was a victim of her own success.
Man Ray, The Gift
Man Ray takes a common household object and renders it strange, dysfunctional, and dangerous.