Surrealism

Book excerpt: 96 illustrations. Surrealism, originating in Paris in the 1920s, was a movment aimed at establishing a perpetual revolution that would disrupt and disorganize both art and society. The key to these revolutionary art forms and attitudes was Freud's concept of the unconscious which spurred the Surrealists to borrow and develop techniques to create images that fused the unconscious dream state with conscious reality. Their faith in art and altered psychological states formed a lasting legacy and cornerstone of modern art. Surrealism attracted some of the most creative artists of the twentieth century: Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Andre Masson, Rene Magritte, Alberto Giacometti, and even, Pablo Picasso. Here is the story of Surrealism along with a collection of 96 haunting images, revealing the vivid world of surrealism.