Modernist Art And Modernism

Various sources quote Breton as expressing “unparalleled admiration” (Susik 2011) and “Surrealism found immediate confirmation in [Ernst’s] collages from 1920, which reflect a completely new concept of visual organization” (Spies, et al. 2005). Furthermore, one article described this moment in Surrealist art “as central to the movement’s research into psychoanalytic theory and the development of its visual practice” (Kavky 2012). The impact of Ernst’s contributions motivated Breton to pen a brief essay entitled “Max Ernst” reflecting Breton’s “bald enthusiasm for Ernst’s unique brand of collages” (Susik 2011); Breton practically wrote the essay overnight “following the unpacking of Ernst’s crate of collages” (Susik 2011). Furthermore, Breton called Ernst “one of the most remarkable minds of the age” (Susik

Surrealism is a movement that built off of the burgeoning look into art, psychology, and the workings of the mind. Popularly associated with the works of Salvador Dali, Surrealist art takes imagery and ideology and creates correlation where there is none, creating new forms of art. In this essay I will look to explore the inception of the surrealist movement, including the Surrealist Manifesto, to stress the importance of these artists and their work in the 20th century and beyond. I also will look to films from our European Cinema course to express how films incorporate the influence of surrealism both intentionally and unintentionally.

Surrealism was one of the most influential artistic movements of the 20th Century. André Breton consolidated Surrealism as a movement in the early 1920s, trying to achieve the “total liberation of the mind and of all that resembles it[1]” through innovative and varied ideas. Surrealism deeply influenced the world in the era between the two world wars and played a big role in the diffusion and adoption of psychology worldwide. Surrealism faded after World War II, but its revolutionary genius has influenced every artistic movement ever since.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, changes in the dynamics of society caused intellectuals to question the traditions of everyday life. From religious views to the arts of literature, traditional values and forms were rejected, thus defining a line between the two time periods, which can be considered as the start of the Modern era. Also known as Modernism, the modern era used literature as an outlet for expressing the thoughts and feelings of the time. Modern texts use city life, industrialization and globalization, and ironic and satirical themes to showcase their bleak outlook on life post both world wars. The nature of these events are aspects of society

Surrealism is type of cultural movement that came into being in 1920s and it is renowned for the visual artworks and writings. The main aim of the emergence of surrealism was to get a solution to what was a previously contradictory condition between dream and reality. Artists painted illogical, unnerving scenes that had photographic precession. They also created strange creatures from the objects that existed everyday. They were also able to develop techniques in painting which allowed what was not conscious to express itself. The work of surrealists features elements like surprise, juxtapositions that are unexpected and non sequitur. On the other hand many surrealist artists and writers term their work as being an expression of philosophical movement in the first place and their work being artifacts.

The dictionary’s definition of Surrealism is a movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example, through juxtaposition. Originally, the Surrealist movement came from the Dada movement, only is was lighter in spirit. The movement was supposed to channel imagination. Surrealists believed that revelations could be found in everyday life. They had an impulse to use their subconscious mind.

Surrealism was both an artistic and literary movement that originated in Paris in 1924. Andre Breton founded the movement and also written the Surrealist Manifesto. The Surrealist Manifesto defines surrealism as "pure psychic automatism by means of which one intends to express, either verbally, or in writing, or in any other manner, the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, free of any aesthetic or moral concern" (Breton). Breton and surrealists believed that the imagination stemmed from the subconscious. That is why their works evoke the appearance of dreams.

Savaldor Dali is a painter that inspired me to do surrealism work. He is a Spanish artist and Surrealist icon. Salvador Dalí is perhaps best known for his painting of melting clocks, The Persistence of Memory. The style of Salvador Dali was the most famous and most creative of the twenty-first century because he developed and nourished a style that was insignificant before his time. The dominant themes in his career revolved around his childhood sexual desires and on the study of the unconscious mind. Gala’s presence in his life greatly relieved of many mental complication, which allowed him to incorporate other themes into his works later in his career. The Great Masturbator, the Persistence of Memory are the work that can summarize the themes

Abstract Expressionism is making its comeback within the art world. Coined as an artist movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at the New York School, American Abstract Expressionist began to express many ideas relevant to humanity and the world around human civilization. However, the subject matters, contributing to artists, were not meant to represent the ever-changing world around them. Rather, how the world around them affected the artist themselves. The works swayed by such worldly influences, become an important article within the artists’ pieces. Subjectively, looking inward to express the artist psyche, artists within the Abstract Expressionism movement became a part of their paintings. Making the paintings more of a representation

Dali’s painting appears to be representative of mainly the subconscious mind because many of the elements in the painting express objects or ideas that are highly characteristic of memories, dreams, or even socially unacceptable elements. More importantly, The Museum of Modern Art explains that a year before this painting was made Dali began to undergo his “paranoiac-critical method” which stimulated

Each artist of the Dada era had a new way of expressing Freud?s ideas. They also felt that art was a powerful means of self-revelation, and that the images came from ones subconscious mind had a truth of its own. As Marcel Duchamp mocked the Mona Lisa by drawing a Padilla 3 mustache on her, stated that the painting was a lewd message set by the conventional way of thinking. Since the Dada artist did not believe in western culture this made sense, because people only want believe what is told to them, instead of what is true. The Dada movement marked a meeting of people to have ?noise concerts? where they recited poems in a free association verse. In these poetry readings the artist perceived how they felt about the world. As World War I began the Dadaist perceived it as a world gone mad. Not only did they express their work in unconventional ways; they used the subconscious as a way of making their views true. Although the Dada era was short lived it influenced and questioned the traditional concepts of the western world. These techniques set an agenda for a new trial by error art form of this same era. The spirit of Freud in the Dadaist era never really died, it is shown today as ?Pop art? or sometimes known as neo-Dada art forms. Also this revolution of thinking and art paved the way for the Surrealist movement. The Surrealist movement of the 1920?s through 1930?s captivated the world with its bizarre way of thinking. Just as the Dadaist used

Surrealism was a 20th century art movement whose proponents dedicated themselves to translating their unconscious into art objects. In this essay I will argue that the cultural work accomplished by Giorgio de Chirico’s Piazza d’Italia and his metaphysical painting style is to be precursors of the surrealism movement, whether de Chirico likes it or not. The metaphysical painting style is similar in form to the “dream-transcription” sub-category of surrealist painting, as well as similar in subject matter (D’Souza). Although de Chirico came to dislike his early career paintings and surrealism, foundational surrealists such as André Breton and Paul Éluard were known to collect and admire his early work (Holman). Breton even declared de Chirico to be a “signpost pointing to surrealism” (“CHIRICO”).

The surrealist artists believed the dream state and subconscious mind to be an untapped and very fertile creative fount of inspiration. The symbolism of dreams and the expressive images generated by the subconscious were far more thought provoking than the representational, logical images of the conscious mind. The surrealist artists were creating art out of what others thought to be garbled and unintelligible. They were in effect taking a concept created to heal and using it to create art instead. They were on to something with this. No matter what the medium or the style used, a bit of the self becomes visible and evident in the result. Art therapy is one of the modern descendants of this movement.

Most of us connect surrealism with art and images from Dali and his generation. However, the artists of the surrealist movement regard their work as an expression of the original philosophical movement with the works being an artefact that philosophy. André Breton was clearly in his view that surrealism was above all, a revolutionary and radical philosophical movement, explaining that is not a matter of aesthetics, but rather a way of thinking, a point of view (Waldberg 1997; Pass 2011:29-30).

“Modern painting, breaking through old conversation, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world.”(Gropius) The birth of modernism and modern art goes back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Before the 19th century, artists created art pieces for wealthy people and institution places like the church where they can create art works about storytelling of religious or mythological scenes . These arts were there to instruct the viewers.However, this changed when during the 19th century many artists began to create works that were about people, places, or ideas that interested them, and of which they had direct experience. With the popularization of the idea of a subconscious mind, many artists began exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences.Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums.