Surrealism, breaking away from convention and digging into the deepest desires, wanted to reach a new realm of art and experience. This introduction brings together the main actors and examples of one of the most influential and universal movements of the 20th century.

Unleashing the unconscious

Breaking the mould with primal instincts

Led by Salvador Dalí, the great ship of Surrealism sailed the turbulent seas of the early 20th century with sails full of dreams and desires. Inspired by Sigmund Freud's practice of psychoanalysis, the Surrealists advocated the unconscious for the mastery of truth, uninhibited by the patterns or expectations of society.
With techniques ranging from hypnosis to night walks and automatic writing, artists such as André Breton, Max Ernst, Brassaï and Meret Oppenheim created paintings, drawings, texts and films with which they sought to delve into their most intimate and primal instincts. The results abound in sexual fantasies, mysterious and threatening objects, and the contrasting of seemingly contradictory objects or ideas.
This book presents an introduction to the origins and magnificent legacy of the Surrealist movement, one of the most profound and enduring influences on film, theatre, literature, art and thought.
Artists featured:Hans Arp, André Breton, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, René Magritte, André Masson, Matta, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Meret Oppenheime and Yves Tanguy.

About the author

Cathrin Klingsöhr-Leroy (b. 1958) studied Art History, Archaeology and German Literature in Regensburg, Bonn and Paris. She wrote her doctoral thesis on "Artistic Portraiture in the French Grand Siècle". Former curator at the Fritz Winter Foundation of the Bavarian State Picture Gallery in Munich, she is currently director of the Franz Marc Museum in Kochel am See. She has published works on Lyonel Feininger, Lovis Corinth, Franz Marc and The Blue Rider, especially on Paul Klee.

Publisher: Taschen