Surrealism is an artistic and cultural movement that emerged in the early 20th century, with its primary aim being to liberate the imagination, transcending the boundaries of rational reality. Officially founded in 1924 by André Breton with the publication of the Surrealist Manifesto, the movement focuses on exploring the unconscious, dreams, and the irrational. The goal is to challenge the conventions of logic, morality, and tangible reality, to reach a higher truth hidden beneath the surface of consciousness.
Surrealist artists, including Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, and Max Ernst, developed techniques like automatism, which allowed free expression without the control of reason. Additionally, they are known for creating dreamlike and paradoxical scenes capable of challenging common sense. The result? An intriguing and often enigmatic art form that invites the viewer to reflect on the mysteries of the human psyche.
And if I told you that 2024 marks the centenary of Surrealism? Yes, one hundred years of visionary dreams and impossible worlds! Dalí himself, with one of his wildly genius looks, would probably repeat his iconic phrase: "The only thing the world will never have enough of is exaggeration." And what better occasion to exaggerate than this? The most prestigious cultural institutions—from the United States to Italy, through Germany and France—are preparing a series of breathtaking exhibitions. It will not only be a tribute to the past, but proof that Surrealism never dies, because the eccentric lives and breathes more than ever in contemporary visual language, where the incredible and the unexpected are still part of our everyday imagination.
One event in particular, however, inspired Artmajeur to join in the celebrations for Surrealism’s centenary. Are you curious to find out what it is? Here’s a hint: it’s at the heart of the third edition of Art Basel Paris and promises to transform the art experience like never before. We’re talking about Oh La La!, a new initiative inviting gallery owners to reorganize their exhibitions, showcasing unseen or rarely seen works, thus creating a completely new experience for visitors. At the Grand Palais, Oh La La! will offer a playful and dynamic journey through the booths, giving participants the chance to rediscover art in a new light: the works on display will explore themes such as love, eroticism, and most of all, Surrealism.
Taking advantage of the centenary, Artmajeur presents a selection of ten lesser-known works by the most popular Surrealist painters, offering the public the opportunity to go beyond the usual masterpieces by Dalí and Magritte. The aim is not to celebrate the most iconic canvases but rather to provide a genuine opportunity for deeper exploration, allowing visitors to discover the less-explored aspects of Surrealism and surpass its more common, mainstream perception. Ready to celebrate?
Salvador Dalí, Cabaret Scene, 1922. Oil on canvas, Private collection of Francois Petit, Paris.
1. Salvador Dalí, "Cabaret Scene", 1922
Did someone mention a party? There's nothing better than diving into a bustling cabaret, where figures and objects seem to dance together in an intricate blend of shapes and colors. In the parallel and fictitious world of art, all of this can be simply enjoyed by contemplating Salvador Dalí’s 1922 masterpiece, "Cabaret Scene", which captures the lively and chaotic atmosphere of an evening social event. Indeed, the Catalan master rendered a scene full of figures seated around tables, engaged in conversations and activities that seem to blend into one another. The faces appear like masks, "abstract," almost devoid of distinctive details, while objects like bottles are scattered among the figures, creating an overlap between concrete elements and geometric forms. In this figurative "chaos," each table appears as a small island of action, encapsulating fragments of daily life, with the fragmented arrangement of the scene clearly echoing Cubist influences. Nevertheless, there is an omnipresent aura of mystery and unpredictability that hints at the Surrealism to come.
It’s evident that by 1922, Dalí was seeking to explore new visual languages, influenced by Pablo Picasso's work, with whom he shared an interest in Cubism. Moreover, the young Spaniard was still searching for his own personal style at that time, leading art historians to position "Cabaret Scene" as a midpoint between Impressionist influences and the eventual development of Surrealism. So, where can we recognize his early steps toward the latter movement? In this masterpiece, Dalí begins to move away from Cubist logic, which focuses on representing reality through the fragmentation and geometric analysis of forms. Dalí’s figures are no longer realistic portrayals of people, but fragmented symbols, placed within a more mental and imaginative context. This detachment from the tangible world is one of the clues indicating his approach toward Surrealism, starting to represent an inner, almost unconscious vision that foreshadows the dreamlike compositions and surreal landscapes that would dominate his later artistic output.
Joan Miró, Head of a Catalan Peasant, 1925. Oil painting technique and colored pencils. Galleria Nazionale di Scozia, Edimburgo.
2. Joan Miró, "Head of a Catalan Peasant", 1925.
Joan Miró once stated: "I have difficulty talking about my painting because it always comes about in a hallucinatory state, triggered by any sort of shock, whether objective or subjective, and over which I have no control. As for my means of expression, I increasingly strive to achieve the highest degree of clarity, power, and plastic aggression, that is, to awaken a physical sensation first, and then reach the soul."
Indeed, the Spanish artist is renowned for his unique style that straddles surrealism and abstraction, where biomorphic forms, geometric signs, and abstract or semi-abstract objects emerge, reflecting his continual experimentation and a marked inclination towards non-figurative art. Miró explored the subconscious as a "playground" for the imagination, often expressing his Catalan identity and his yearning for freedom.
This is exemplified in "Head of a Catalan Peasant" (1925), housed in the National Gallery of Scotland, which features a symbolic and abstract composition representing a Catalan peasant. The painting is dominated by a large red hat, known as a barretina, traditionally associated with Spanish agricultural culture. Beneath it, stylized elements like a serpentine beard and two circular eyes emerge against a delicately shaded sky blue background. Despite its formal simplicity, the figure conveys a strong sense of identity and connection to the artist's homeland. "Head of a Catalan Peasant" clearly illustrates Miró's shift towards increasing abstraction, moving away from Cubism and adopting a surrealist language characterized by a limited but powerful palette, where the blue sky makes the stylized forms stand out, evoking a sense of emptiness and mystery. The painting also foreshadows the themes of automatism and synthesis that would dominate much of Miró's later work.
Interesting fact:
- Although associated with Surrealism, Miró never fully embraced complete non-objectivity, always maintaining a link to recognizable forms, which he combined with a deeply personal visual language.
"Head of a Catalan Peasant" is part of a series of four paintings created between 1924 and 1925, in which Miró explores the figure of the Catalan peasant as a symbol of his identity and cultural roots.
Max Ernst, Aquis Submersus, 1919. Oil on canvas. Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt.
3. Max Ernst, "Aquis Submersus", 1919
"Painting for me is neither decorative amusement, nor the plastic invention of a felt reality; it must be each time: invention, discovery, revelation." This quote from Max Ernst perfectly introduces his 1919 painting "Aquis Submersus", where painting becomes a medium for inner exploration and a challenge to traditional artistic conventions.
In "Aquis Submersus", Ernst presents a space suspended between reality and dream, set in a swimming pool surrounded by hand-drawn buildings. These structures have blurred contours, casting ambiguous shadows against a sky that seems solid like a wall. A clock floats in the sky, reflecting in the water as if it were a moon, breaking the rules of both physics and visual logic. At the center of the pool, the upside-down body of a female figure emerges, with only her legs visible above the water, evoking an image of either diving or drowning.
In the foreground stands a figure without arms, resembling a clay statue, casting a shadow toward the pool. This character, with a handlebar mustache reminiscent of Ernst's father, gazes away from the water, adding further mystery to the composition. Ernst masterfully captures the viewer in a state of suspension, between life and death, between the real and the dreamlike.
Curiosity:
- The painting reflects the influence of Italian metaphysical art, particularly that of Giorgio de Chirico, with its ability to evoke a sense of alienation through static and unnatural scenes. However, even at this early stage, surrealist accents are already present in Ernst's work, which would soon make him one of the pioneers of the Surrealist movement.
Ernst was deeply influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud, and the figure in the painting, either submerged or drowned, connects to his psychological explorations, where water often symbolizes the subconscious and immersion into the deeper layers of the mind.
René Magritte, Time Transfixed, 1938. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
4. René Magritte, "Time Transfixed", 1938.
"If the dream is a translation of waking life, then waking life is also a translation of the dream." This quote by René Magritte perfectly encapsulates the dreamlike and paradoxical vision that permeates his work "Time Transfixed", painted in 1938. The artist, renowned for his exploration of mystery in everyday life, introduces us to a world where dreams and reality merge, challenging the viewer’s perception.
The masterpiece portrays a locomotive emerging from a fireplace in a serene bourgeois dining room. The train, miniature in scale compared to the fireplace, is depicted speeding impossibly through the hearth, as if coming out of a railway tunnel. The contrast between the dynamic energy of the train and the stillness of the room is heightened by the static elements, such as the clock and candlesticks that adorn the mantle. The floor is lined with parquet, while a large mirror above partially reflects the objects in the room.
Magritte’s style is generally characterized by highly detailed realism, where every element is represented with almost photographic precision. However, the mystery of the work lies in its paradox: the locomotive, typically associated with the outdoors and speed, appears inside a room, in a closed space, breaking the laws of physics and logic. Magritte uses this "crisis of the object," where common and familiar items are uprooted from their usual context and placed in alien situations, to create a mysterious and inexplicable scene. Thus, "Time Transfixed" embodies the essence of René Magritte’s surrealist poetics: revealing the mystery hidden in familiar things, creating a new reality where dreams and wakefulness blend, and where ordinary objects become bearers of hidden meanings.
Yves Tanguy, Mama, papa is wounded, 1927. Oil on canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
5. Yves Tanguy, "Les Amoureux" (The Lovers), 1929
"The painting develops before my eyes, unfolding its surprises as it progresses. It is this which gives me the sense of complete liberty, and for this reason I am incapable of forming a plan or making a sketch beforehand." These words from Yves Tanguy perfectly describe his creative vision, a spontaneous process that reflects the free and unpredictable flow of the unconscious, a key principle of Surrealism.
Through the same process, "Les Amoureux" (1929) was born, an artwork that presents a dreamlike scene, dominated by a blurred backdrop of greens, reminiscent of an underwater landscape. In this context, the main figures, amorphous and abstract, seem to float in a suspended dimension, as if they belonged to an alien aquatic world or a deserted, still land. These characters, placed somewhat near a nearly flat plane, are distributed randomly, either isolated or grouped together, evoking an atmosphere oscillating between dream and nightmare. In the foreground, a slender structure, resembling a trunk or a humanoid figure, stands out, while in the background, other undefined elements appear to float or climb towards an indistinct sky.
The painting thus reflects Tanguy's distinctive style, known for his ability to create surreal yet incredibly realistic landscapes, with precise and defined forms, often inspired by the rocky landscapes of Brittany.
Frida Kahlo, My Grandparents, My Parents, and Me, 1936.
6. Frida Kahlo, "My Grandparents, My Parents, and Me", 1936
"I don’t really know if my paintings are surreal or not, but I do know that they represent the frankest expression of myself." With these words, Frida Kahlo captures the essence of her work: the pure manifestation of her identity, pain, and personal history. In the painting "My Grandparents, My Parents, and Me," the artist portrays herself as a naked child, holding a red ribbon shaped in a loop, symbolizing her bloodline and ancestry. This ribbon supports her family tree, which hovers above her like a series of "suspended balloons."
In this intricate composition, Kahlo places herself at the center of a symbolic web of family and identity: above her, resting on soft clouds, are her grandparents—Mexican on one side and German on the other—each positioned to reflect their geographical and cultural roots. Her mother, who carries the unborn Frida, and the artist's father are depicted at the center of the painting, with their bodies slightly overlapping. Beneath the fetus, a cluster of sperm cells swims toward an egg, alluding to the future birth of the artist. Finally, a flowering cactus under the fertilized egg serves as an additional symbol of birth, a recurring theme in Kahlo’s work.
The style of "My Grandparents, My Parents, and Me" clearly reflects Kahlo's approach to art as a means of exploring her identity and heritage. To achieve this, Frida blends elements of Mexican folk art, Catholic symbolism, and magical realism, creating a work that is both a family chronicle and a meditation on identity and womanhood. It is also worth noting that, although she was often associated with Surrealism, Kahlo never formally identified with the movement, even though she frequently used imagery drawn from dreams and imagination.
AndréMasson, L'Enfantement (Childbirth) , 1955.
7. André Masson, "L'Enfantement" (Childbirth), 1955.
In this painting, André Masson constructs a surreal and dreamlike scene, populated by semi-abstract forms that seem to move freely on an intense blue-green background. The sinuous and fluid lines that shape the figures suggest an almost cosmic energy, as if the entire composition were immersed in a continuous and boundless movement. Above these biomorphic figures, stars and curved lines trace a connection between the sky and the earth, evoking a mythological or astral narrative.
Masson is indeed one of the pioneers of Surrealism and automatic techniques, known for combining his ability to tap into the unconscious with formal experimentation. The synthetic figures in the painting reflect his interest in organic abstraction and metamorphosis, central themes in his artistic production. Furthermore, his technique of automatic drawing, clearly evident here, allows him to explore the spontaneity of gesture and line, creating images that seem to emerge directly from the subconscious.
From the analysis of "Enfantement", it becomes clear that the master was not merely creating simple visual representations, but through a flow of abstract and twisted forms, he sought to address universal themes such as life, sexuality, violence, and death. Certainly, the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy and Masson's direct experience of the violence of World War I are evident in his creations, which often reflect a sense of chaos and destruction, but also a search for existential meaning.
Giorgio de Chirico, The Red Tower, 1913. Peggy Guggenheim collection.
8. Giorgio de Chirico, " The Red Tower", 1913
"An artwork to become immortal must always transcend the limits of the human without worrying about common sense or logic." With these words, Giorgio de Chirico expresses his artistic vision, characterized by a break with tangible reality and a tension toward mystery and enigma. This philosophy is perfectly embodied in "The Red Tower" (1913), one of his masterpieces of Metaphysical painting, where logic and reason are set aside to create a surreal and dreamlike atmosphere.
"The Red Tower" presents a desolate, unreal space, dominated by a massive cylindrical tower rising at the center of the scene. The composition is framed by two dark arcades on the sides, leading the viewer’s gaze toward the tower, the undisputed protagonist of the piece. The absence of clear elements that define the location enhances a sense of alienation, although on the right side, an equestrian statue appears, possibly a reference to the monument of Carlo Alberto in Turin, adding further ambiguity to the scene. Despite the apparent simplicity, the composition is charged with invisible tension, as if something important is about to happen or has just occurred.
"The Red Tower" is a paradigmatic example of de Chirico's Metaphysical painting, characterized by irrational perspective and elongated shadows, elements that give the work its dreamlike and melancholic atmosphere. Additionally, the use of empty squares, porticos, and classical architecture is typical of his style, where reality is transformed into a stage for invisible dramas. The absence of unified light sources and the hallucinatory focus on objects further contribute to a sense of disorientation and mystery, while the solemn and silent architecture evokes a feeling of solitude and suspended anticipation.
It is important to note that, although Giorgio de Chirico is often associated with the Surrealists, his movement, Metaphysical painting, is fundamentally different from Surrealism, both in its goals and philosophical vision. Both tendencies explore the unconscious and the mystery hidden behind visible reality, following similar but decidedly separate paths.
Leonora Carrington, The Kitchen Garden on the Eyot, 1946.
9. Leonora Carrington, "The Kitchen Garden on the Eyot", 1946
"The Kitchen Garden on the Eyot" by Leonora Carrington is a work imbued with symbolism, depicting a magical, dreamlike scene set in a garden where human, animal, and supernatural elements intertwine, creating a fantastical environment. The composition is dominated by a vast green space surrounded by plant walls, with vegetables and fruit trees, though the main action takes place in the foreground. Here, more precisely on the left, we find three female figures mysteriously interacting with each other while a bird flies nearby. On the right side, a white ghost-like figure emerges from a tree, holding a large egg—a recurring symbol in the work—while an orange figure appears to sprinkle dust or cast a spell.
To fully understand what has been described, one must be familiar with Carrington’s visual language, which, while notably influenced by Surrealism, is distinct for its intensity, the use of personal symbolism, and its focus on themes of metamorphosis and magic. It becomes evident how "The Kitchen Garden on the Eyot" merges elements of Celtic mythology, esoteric spirituality, and alchemy, enriched by the use of egg tempera, which lends the scene a mystical glow. Additionally, this work is significant because Carrington, as she often does, moves away from the traditional roles assigned to women in Surrealist art, exploring female creativity and autonomy through her characters. Her figures, part human and part animal, embody themes of transformation and ever-changing identity.
Finally, in "The Kitchen Garden on the Eyot," the egg is undeniably a central element, symbolizing fertility and creation, both biological and artistic. In this context, the use of egg tempera further emphasizes this metaphor. Moreover, the painting, created during the artist’s pregnancy, reflects a deep connection to the theme of birth and transformation, expressed through ethereal imagery and mythological iconography.
Salvador Dalí, Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire , 1940. Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.
10. Salvador Dalí, "Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire" , 1940
Let’s conclude with a clearer example of Dalí’s Surrealism, represented by a masterpiece in which the artist combines the ordinary and the extraordinary to create a vision that defies logic and perception. Dalí famously plays with reality and appearance through a hyperrealistic representation of objects and figures, making the normal appear abnormal and vice versa.
The use of optical illusion is a central element in this and many other works by the Catalan master. Through this technique, Dalí allows the viewer not only to observe but to interpret the composition on multiple levels, revealing hidden and surprising meanings within the same image. Here, the figure of Voltaire magically emerges from the arrangement of characters in the marketplace, exposing not only the fragility of human perception but also placing the composition in a deep philosophical context, where reality and illusion intertwine to provoke critical reflection. Indeed, Voltaire, known for his rational ideas and anti-slavery stance, symbolically emerges in a setting of slaves, creating a stark thematic contrast between freedom and oppression.
Moreover, the meticulous precision with which Dalí portrays figures and forms is a hallmark of his painting style. Yet, the composition and meaning of the work transcend tangible reality, transporting the viewer into a world suspended between dream and reality, where illusion and symbolism merge to create a unique visual experience. Finally, the use of warm colors and long shadows serves to amplify the feeling of surrealism and mystery, characteristic of the artist’s works.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
| ArtMajeur Magazine
