Surrealism, Picasso In The 1930S

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Surrealism 1924-39

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1920s and 1930s

-Led by poet André Breton, writer of Surrealist Manifesto.

-dealt w/ subconscious; Freud; dreamworld;

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Automatist Surrealism

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-Earliest form of surrealism

-More abstract, used chance (automatism) in the making of an artwork in order to delve directly into thesubconscious mind.

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Joan Miró

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Spanish, 1893-1983

-Automatist

-Drawing from halluncintaions

-biomorphic abstraction (a lot); automatism to get started, then rational mind takes over

-“The most Surrealist of us all.”—André Breton

-often child-like playfulness in his work (with adult sophistication), Miró’s house filled with toys

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*Joan Miró, The Carnival of Harlequin. 1924-25. Oil on canvas, 66 x 93 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery,Buffalo, N.Y.

-More abstract, imaginative, not pre-planned (begun in Automatist form in order to delve into subconscious mind)

-mostly flat (some suggestion of 3D); all-over composition (untraditional)

-geometric & biomorphic shapes (sexual connotations?)

-meaning unclear, as with dreams;

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Joan Miró works

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More example of his art.

-paintings based on collages

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ILLUSIONISTICSURREALISM

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-Used realistic or trompe l’oeil, devices (perspective, foreshortening, chiaroscuro modeling, etc) tocreate a dream world w/ unreal combinations or juxtapositions, inconsistent perspective, distortions, etc

-done in meticulous, precise style (intradition of de Chirico)

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Salvador Dali

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-Spanish, 1904-1986, Illusionistic Surrealist

-Eccentric personality, showman (often overshadowed his art)

-Unreal juxtapositions and combinations

-Freud (dream world, libido) a big influence

-Called practitioner of the “hand-painted dream photograph”, developed “Paranoiac-Critical” Method to delve into the subconscious mind

-Dali kicked outIn 1934 Dali expelled by Breton fromSurrealism. He was too conservative (supported Francoand fascists in Spain), also too religious(Breton=anti-church). Dali repented, was readmitted, then expelledfor good in 1939

-Loved Bosch

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*Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13 in. (24.1 x 33 cm). MOMA, NY

-watches, driftwood-like object (Dali’s profile?), ants, dead fly, tree-like growth on platform (left), barren landscape; no human presence

-dream-like, delving into the subconscious mind

-strange juxtapositions, realistic devices used, but done in an unreal way

-might allude to time cycle, impotence.

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Dali’s Paranoiac-Critical Method (1933)

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Rather than reach subconscious through automatism, Dali made conscious effort to distort his vision and achieve delusional thoughts.

Dali’s definition of paranoiac-critical method: “[A] spontaneous assimilation of irrational knowledge based upon the critical and systematicobjectification of delirious phenomena.

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# Dali’s contribution to film: Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog). 1929 [film directed by Luis Buñuel]

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René Magritte

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-Belgian, 1898-1967

-similar to Dali (tight, illusionistic, w/ trompe l’oeil devices), but more conceptual, cerebral

-Influence of de Chirico, style sometimes referred to as Magic Realism (precise realism, but put together in unreal way—Surreal)

-works:

# Magritte. The Treachery of Images. 1928-29

# Magritte. Portrait. 1935

* Magritte. The Human Condition. 1934

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#René Magritte, The Treachery of Images. c. 1928-29

-very realistic (trompe l’oeil), but conceptual (playing with ideas); what is realism, what is abstraction.

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#*? René Magritte. Portrait. 1935

-Magic Realism

-ordinary objects, realistically painted, but w/ eye in center of ham (surreal);

-paranoia, cannibalism

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*René Magritte, The Human Condition. 1934

-Magic realism, trompe l’oeil realistic devices, but with unrealistic aspects

-Cerebral approach, plays with ideas of reality and illusion (painting w/in a painting)

- “[The tree] existed for the spectator, as it were, simultaneously in his mind, as both inside the room in the painting, and outside in the reallandscape.” —Magritte

-picture window (Renaissance)

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AUTOMATIST/ILLUSIONISTICSURREALISM

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-Artist with both tendencies

-Max Ernst (German, 1891-1976) works:

* Ernst. Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale. 1924. Oil on wood with wood construction

# Ernst. The Horde. 1927frottage

* Ernst. Europe After the Rain. 1940-42Decalcomania

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Max Ernst(German, 1891-1976)

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-former Dadaist; continued automatism, but also some illusionistic aspects (with dream-like imagery)

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*Ernst, Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale. 1924. Oil on wood with wood construction, 70x51x11 cm. MOMA, NY

-Mostly an Illusionistic Surrealist work

-Dream world, more like nightmare

-Inspired by Ernst poem w/ words used for title

-Surreal landscape, perspective, but odd juxtapositions, placements

-Figures (in shades of gray) seem disoriented, out of place, alienated

-Combines 2-D and 3-D, frame (and other 3-D objects) become part of image. Title written on frame, invites viewer into nightmare?

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#Max Ernst, The Horde 1927. Oil on canvas, 114 x 146.1 cm. Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam

-frottage: French “to rub”, this is a painting, but stems from texture rubbings, cut out, then arranged in collage composition

-nightmareworld suggested, monstrous creatures

-Automatism in the use of texture rubbings

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*Ernst. Europe after the Rain. 1940-1942. Oil on canvas, 54.6 x 147.6 cm.

-decalcomania: similar to a monotype: paint on one (non-absorbent) surface, then while it’s wet press againstanother surface (e.g., canvas) an Automatistic method

-Description: strange plant-like forms and creatures, suggestions of mutations, birds common in work (inspired by childhood occurrence)

-Fantasy, surreal lush landscape, but desolate

-growth and decay, but blue sky (sign of hope?)

-Meaning ambiguous, but rain in title likely refers to the war (Ernst had served in WWI; Europe now in WWII) the imagery symbolic of destruction of war

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SURREALISTSCULPTURE

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At the beginning of Surrealism, painting dominated, sculpture became more prevalent in 1930s and 40s.

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Meret Oppenheim

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-Swiss/German, 1913-1985moved to Paris in 1932

-met Hans Arp and Alberto Giacometti

-Produced one of the most memorable Surrealist works (Object, 1936)

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* Oppenheim. Object. 1936 Fur-covered cup, saucer,and spoon

-perhaps most memorable Surrealist 3-D object

-animal-like, as if once alive

-Surrealist in taking the familiar and making it strange

-makes viewer think of drinking out of the cup

-Caused a stir at London Surrealist Exhibition in 1936, Dali very impressed

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Alberto Giacometti

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-Swiss, 1901-1966

-more than any other, conveyed Surrealistic concerns (subconscious, dreamworld, etc.) through sculpture

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*Pablo Picasso. Guernica. 1937. Oil on canvas

•Protest of war and injustice: Spanish Basque town bombed by Hitler’s planes. Franco, Fascist leader of Spain. Spanish Civil War.

•Individualizes the injustice, influenced by newspaper accounts.

•Somewhat cubist style: fractured space, angular faceting, limited palette, multiple points of view

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*Giacometti, The Palace at 4 a.m. 1932-33. Construction in wood, glass, wire, and string