André Breton

In the Surrealist Manifesto, Andre Breton defined the cultural movement was the expression of “psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express verbally, by written word, or by any other manner—the actual functioning of thought” and “the omnipotence of dream”. (Breton) Beginning from the 1920s, the works of Picasso started to show Surrealist influences; around 1927, Picasso’s employed the…

a huge impact on twenty-century art. Duchamp shayed away from conventional methods of making art and developed a new type of art called “readymade”. According to the textbook, “His invention in 1913 of the “readymade,” defined by the Surrealist André Breton as “manufactured objects promoted to the dignity of art through the choice of the artist” (Arnason 220). Duchamp stated, “His selection of common “found” objects was guided by complete visual indifference, or “anaesthesia” and the total…

A key component of surrealism was automatism. Automatism is the free flowing of impossible thoughts into words. Imagination played a huge role in surrealism. Parisian critic and poet André Breton jumpstarted the surrealist movement by his publication of Manifesto of Surrealism in 1924. Andre Breton is known as the Pope of Surrealism. During the surrealism movement, the private mind suddenly became available to readers. Writers were encouraged to share their crazy ideas. Surrealists believed…

to deism, then atheism and finally philosophical materialism, believing all things to be made of matter, and that all phenomena including thought and consciousness to be the product of material interaction. In 1745 Diderot was approached by André Le Breton, with the idea of translating Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia into French. As Diderot began translating the book with his coeditor, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, he found himself driven by the concept of changing the book into a compilation of…

called Surrealism. Surrealism is a style of art of the early twentieth century that emphasized dream imagery, chance operations, and rapid, thoughtless forms of notation that expressed, it was felt, the unconscious mind. A French poet by the name Andre Brenton, known as the “Pope of Surrealism,” wrote the Surrealist Manifesto. His original definition of surrealism was a “fusion of elements of fantasy with elements of the modern world to form a kind of superior reality” and “spontaneous writing.”…

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who was best known for the self-portraiture work which she created during her career (Fridakahlo.org, 2014). Early on in her life it was her ambition not to become a painter but rather a doctor. This ambition was however quashed when at the age of 18 the bus she and her boyfriend were traveling on was struck by a tram. As a result of this horrific accident Frida Kahlo had to spend one year in a hospital bed, recovering from the massive injuries to her body. Over…

“life beyond the artwork” (“The Art Story” n.p.). This was not an uncommon thought, however Man Ray was the first to publicize and truthfully introduce it. This was a thought process that began abstractly then developed into the Dada trademark. Andre Breton described him as a pre-surrealist, and a building block for the movement. Although Man Ray initially wished to be a photographer, his object artwork and readymades would be the artwork that would hold up throughout…

Rene Magritte Artist: Rene Magritte is a world renowned Surrealist artist, known for his strange yet witty artworks designed to make the audience think. He was born on the 21st of November 1898, in Lessines, Belgium and died on the 15th of August, 1967. It was in 1915, as a seventeen year old, when Magritte first began his career in art. He began studying at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels where, despite the lack of attendance, he was introduced to art concepts such as Futurism,…

and became inspired by Chatwin’s love for these small black notebooks. When she began to research the Moleskines, she discovered that Chatwin was only one of many influential artists who swore by the notebooks. Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Andre Breton and more all had Moleskines. Inspirited by the rich history of the product, she took the idea of resurrecting the books to Modo & Modo, a small Milanese stationery company with great success. Modo & Modo trademarked the name Moleskine and…

René Magritte is a surrealist artist who has produced a reputation for his “clever and intriguing imagery” using basic designs and ordinary symbolism. Maybe viewers for the most part got caught by his The Son of Man painting, but may not know the painter by name. Rather would recognize the iconic painting and the repetitive topic and theme in another depiction by this artist. There's considerably more to know about Magritte and how the painting fits into his works as a whole. René François…