Surreal paintings
Surrealist paintings emerge from the beginning of the movement of artists who developed their cultural technique in Europe following the end of the First World War and the beginning of the well-known Dadaist cultural movement. Its main characteristic was its opposition to the rational thinking established by positivism.
Although the surrealist movement was born precisely on October 15 in the year 1924, it was defined as a cultural, artistic and literary movement that wishes to overcome reality and focus on irrational thinking and the dreamlike, through the various expressions that the subconscious thought automatically.
That is why when something has a connotation that is beyond all logic and is irrational to the point of absurdity, it is known as surrealist and refers to the well-known surrealist movement that was born in France thanks to the writer André Breton who was inspired by psychoanalysis. Among the artists who stood out most in the surrealist movement were Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, Joan Miró and René Magritte.
In this way the surreal paintings are full of very unexpected elements and juxtapositions. Therefore, the artists and writers who belong to the surrealist movement will describe the surrealist paintings as a philosophical expression. But at the same time the surrealist paintings were very revolutionary and were associated with different movements such as anarchism and communism.
When the writer and poet André Breton published the famous Surrealist Manifesto in Paris, this emblematic city was established as the headquarters of the surrealist movement, which spread throughout Europe. The first surrealist paintings began to be exhibited there, attracting the attention of the masses and art critics.
Main Realistic Paintings
Being one of the most renowned movements and most present in various artists because they have based their surrealist paintings on fantasy, imagination and evocations of the dream world.
In addition, many artists based their works of art on improvisation, which is why in this article we will detail a number of surrealist paintings that have gone down in artistic history as some of the best works of the surrealist movement, among which the following stand out:
The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dalí
One of the surrealist paintings that has most attracted public attention is the work known as "The Persistence of Memory," which the painter created in 1931 and exhibited at the Pierre Colle Gallery in Paris, France. The following year, the work was shown in the United States, at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City.
Salvador Dalí's work is currently in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) which arrived at that museum in 1934. It is one of the smallest surrealist paintings that exist since its measurements are 24 cm high by 33 cm wide. The landscape that the work presents is very simple, observing a sea and a rock formation.
This is one of the surrealist paintings that depicts several clocks that appear to be melting, emphasizing the relativity of time, Albert Einstein's well-known theory that the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí had previously studied.
The Elephants, Salvador Dali
It's worth noting that Salvador Dalí's surrealist paintings featured a recurring theme: elephants. Therefore, in 1944, he completed his work known as "The Elephants," one of the most significant surrealist paintings because it represents strength, power, and dominance.
Although the painter Salvador Dalí makes a statement of these animals by placing almost invisible insect legs of desire. While the obelisks carried by the animals will represent knowledge and strength. They were depicted in a sculpture in Rome by the Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The work is currently in the Salvador Dalí Museum and is done in oil on a canvas, although it is surrealist in style the work is identified as a landscape that develops a ghostly atmosphere with the following measurements 49 cm high by 60 cm wide.
The Great Masturbator, Salvador Dalí
It is one of the most famous surrealist paintings in existence due to its subject matter. It was created by the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí and completed in 1929. This work was done using oil on canvas measuring 110 cm high by 150 cm wide. The work is on display at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, Spain.
It's one of the surrealist paintings that features numerous theories of psychoanalysis and the unconscious. In this work, the painter displays numerous symbols, which he repeatedly uses to express a complex sexual scene, featuring ants, a lobster, and a very tranquil seascape. At that time, the work allowed him to expose an activity that was considered taboo.
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of the Civil War), by Salvador Dalí
A work completed in 1936 and currently housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the United States, the painting measures 100 cm high by 99 cm wide. This work is one of the surrealist paintings that depicts the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.
It's worth noting that this is one of the surrealist paintings where the story depicted is very aggressive, as it demonstrates the horror suffered during the Spanish Civil War. The painter spent six months on this work, beginning before the civil war began. This is why Salvador Dalí began painting a kind of amorphous person or monster made of several parts that strangled other parts of its body.
This figure was constituted by a leg and from there other extremities are born that are trying to tear each other to pieces. In the upper part of the painting there is a head that is smiling but blinded by the sun. This head is related to Goya's famous painting Saturn Devouring His Children, because of the fear it provokes in viewers.
The Treachery of the Image (This is not a pipe), by René Magritte
It is a work made in 1929, by the artist Rene Magritte It is considered a conceptual art painting. However, it is one of the surrealist paintings where the artist wishes to deny what is evident to the viewer. He creates a work of art and places an inscription denying what is observed in the painting.
It is a work made to simply deny with words what is observed and in this way language, reality and representation begin to be questioned. Since when observing that it is a pipe but not being used for smoking, it simply is not. That is why the surrealist artist René Magritte reveals the abyss that exists when separating what we see from reality. That is why the following was said of the work:
“The famous pipe. How people reproach me for it! And yet, could you fill it? No, of course, it's a mere representation. If I had written on the painting 'This is a pipe,' I would have been lying!”
In this same way, it is concluded that in a certain way they will also represent a deception to the extent that they want to represent something since the artist stated the following in one of the interviews he gave:
“My purpose in painting is to make thought visible”
This work can be seen at the prestigious Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the United States. The original title of the work is “The trahison des images” The technique used to paint the work was oil on a canvas with the following measurements: 63 cm high by 93 cm wide.
The Philosophical Lamp, by René Magritte
Another painting by the surrealist painter René Magritte completed in 1936 is one of the surrealist paintings where there is a very intimate relationship between imagination and philosophy of life, since the painter affirms that the person inside the painting is enclosed between their vices and their thoughts.
The other important element in the painting "The Philosophical Lamp" is that the candle is transformed into something limp. This work is currently in a private collection, for which the artist stated the following about this work:
"The meditations of the philosopher and distracted can make us think of a mental world closed in on itself, as here a smoker is a prisoner of his own pipe"
Son of Man, by René Magritte
According to art critics, "Son of Man" is one of René Magritte's best-known surrealist paintings, as he created it as a self-portrait. The painting depicts a middle-aged man dressed in an overcoat with a red tie and an elegant bowler hat. The man is standing, with a beautiful sea and cloudy sky in the background.
What stands out about the work, however, is that it's a self-portrait of the artist. However, his face is hidden by a green apple, revealing only a small portion of his eyes. It's also one of the surrealist paintings that has been the subject of countless parodies, earning him great fame.
The painting is currently in the possession of a private collection. The artist created it in 1964 using the canvas technique and the measurements presented by the painting are the following: 116 cm high by 89 cm wide.
The Observatory Hour – The Lovers, by Man Ray
As one of the artists who began in the Dada movement and later ventured into surrealist art, his works gradually gained considerable value, as he sought to show his audience his different perspectives on reality. Thus, in 1934, he completed his famous work known as Lovers which is also known as Observatory Hour.
Among Man Ray's various surrealist paintings, this work stands out for its erotic elements. It also possesses many characteristics described in Freudian psychoanalysis. This is why this oil painting on canvas features the Luxembourg City Observatory in the landscape, and in the sky, lips depicting these eternal lovers.
The work is currently in a private collection, as its buyer paid approximately US$750 at an auction held in New York galleries. It is one of the most expensive surrealist paintings, as Salvador Dalí's previous surrealist painting cost three times less.
Shakespearean equation, Twelfth Night, by Man Ray
In 1948, the surrealist artist Man Ray created a painting inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare, especially the well-known work (Twelfth Night), also known as The Night of the Twelfth Kings.
The work is made with several objects which have no relation to each other. Just like the characters in the play, none of which is related to the other, and complex and dramatic threads are created throughout the play. In the painting, the objects that stand out the most are an ostrich egg and a kind of phallic object that refer to the works of the surrealist artist Man Ray.
The work measures 86 cm high by 75 cm wide and is on permanent display at the renowned Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution.
Me and the Village, by Marc Chagall
Although it is a work carried out by the painter Marc Chagall where this artist cannot be pigeonholed in any artistic movement, but the present work is one of the most famous surrealist paintings that exist due to the amount of very creative and dreamlike elements.
It is also a painting made in the year 1911, and it draws the attention of the spectators because the face of a cow is observed, which is a maternal symbol in a green field that has the figure of another face. In addition, the painting is complemented with various symbols of everyday origin in a kind of atmosphere with many colors. The work is currently in the prestigious New York Museum of Art.
Celebes by Max Ernst
The artist Max Ernst is also known as another of the artists that cannot be classified into a single artistic movement since he used various techniques from different movements, of which Dadaism and Surrealism stand out.
Being the work known as me and the village one of the surreal paintings where a collage is made in which you can identify with various textures of the different materials used by the artist. Although many art critics have claimed that the artist has made several random associations to give the painting a surreal representation.
The work has the following dimensions 125 cm high by 107 cm wide where the main figure of the painting is a shape that looks like an elephant but with many sexual connotations. In the same way, a kind of tower appears that resembles a phallic symbol.
Catalan Landscape (The Hunter), by Joan Miró
It is one of the works of the surrealist painter Joan Miró who began painting it in 1923 and completed it in 1924. It was made using the oil technique on a canvas with the following dimensions: 64 cm high by 100 cm wide.
Being one of the most important surrealist paintings due to the style with which the painter Joan Miró is one of the most brilliant works and also highlights the set of elements that include the Catalan hunter, a triangle with an eye, mustache and beard, a pipe, a barretina and an ear.
The rest of the elements that are in the work show us that it is a very arid but Catalan landscape that refers to the burial of the sardine. Currently this work is kept in the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York City (MoMA).
The Invisibles, by Yves Tanguy
An artist born in France, Yves Tanguy. Son of a retired naval captain, who while in Paris saw one of the paintings by the painter Giorgio de Chirico and was so fascinated that he decided to dedicate himself to painting. For this reason, he began to study everything related to works of art and in 1927, with his palette of colors, he created one of the surrealist paintings that has most attracted the public's attention, entitled "Mom, dad is hurt!".
The present painting of grayish colors that has flashes of different colors is an alien landscape which is full of abstract figures and other angular ones that will look like shattered prisms. The whole work looks a bit intriguing.
The somewhat solitary cactus of the work and the mass of smoke, all of this is endowed with a shadow of light projection that will be accentuated in the empty landscape of the work, creating in the public a kind of mystery for what happened in the work. .
Currently the surrealist painting is on permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) in the United States and has the following dimensions: 92 cm high by 73 cm wide.
The Invisibles, by Yves Tanguy
Similarly, the French painter paints another of the most famous surrealist paintings known as "The Invisibles" in the year 1951 after World War II ended and this painter went to the United States to live.
Although this painter was always inspired by the collections of other artists to make his own surrealist paintings, this work by him was an idea of the poet and writer André Breton about an idea that there are invisible creatures.
The French painter began to paint abstract formations that had an organic appearance that were clinging to various sharp structures. The background of the surreal painting shows a misty and threatening sky. According to art critics, it is a phantasmagoric work that takes place in an inert background that evokes beings from other worlds, although there is no rational explanation.
This work can currently be found in a permanent exhibition at the Tate Modern Museum in the city of London, England, it is made in oil on a fabric canvas which has the following dimensions: 98 cm high by 81 cm wide.
Autobiography of an Embryo, by Eileen Agar
An artist of British origin who was born in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She made the work known as "Autobiography of an embryo" based on a set of surreal techniques by which she begins to divide the canvas into four parts and she also applies techniques from Greek art.
In the same way, in the surrealist painting, it also concentrates allusions to Greek art and the Renaissance. In short, what the renowned artist did was evoke many cultures, making this work one of the most famous surrealist paintings for the evocation of cultural heritage as defined. by various art critics.
The painting is currently in the Tate Modern in London in England and has the following measurements: 91 cm high by 213 cm wide. In this work you can also see several figures that resemble the cells and elements of the biological world.
What the water brought me, by Frida Kahlo
It is one of the works made by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo where he paints a bathtub which is white with blue shadows and the water becomes a little cloudy due to the large amount of elements he places and what stands out most in the work are his feet and how they are reflected in the water.
In the same way, the artist places a large plug in the middle of her legs or a little higher, while her fingers are painted red, but the big toe drains blood that reaches a dead bird. In all the works we want to show everything that the Mexican artist has experienced.
Currently this work is in the city of Paris, and belongs to the private collection of Daniel Filipacchi. It should be noted that the work was made by the artist in 1938 and has the following measurements: 91 cm high by 73 cm wide.
The Broken Column, by Frida Kahlo
It is another of the most famous surrealist paintings created by the Mexican-born painter when she was 37 years old and attempts to recount everything that happened in her life after the accident she suffered when she was still a teenager in 1925.
In that accident, the painter Frida Kahlo suffered a three-part fracture of her spine, which forced her to undergo several operations, which meant she had to endure a lot of pain throughout her life.
In the work, a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo, she recounts all she has suffered and why she cries. She depicts an Ionic column broken into three parts and wears an uncomfortable corset. She also places a series of nails, demonstrating the pain she endures in every part of her body.
This work can be seen in the Dolores Olmedo Museum in Mexico City in Mexico. It is also one of the smallest surrealist paintings that exist, measuring 30 cm high by 39 cm wide.
Exquisite Corpse
This work is born from a game that the artists of the surrealist movement played since in the 1920s, these artists met to play a very strange game that they called "Consequences" where each artist already contributes an element to the work of art. Following the following rule, a verb must be placed and then an adjective, and this gave rise to the well-known work "The Exquisite Corpse"
Each participant made a drawing and hid it and passed it to the other participant in the game at the end of the game the paper was revealed thus giving the figure made by all the artists and this was to reveal what was hidden in the subconscious.
Eyes on the table, by Remedios Varo
A painting completed in 1935 by artist Remedios Varo, who was influenced by the surrealist movement. This work presents itself as a game for the imagination, as it separates eyes from glasses with eyelashes, all of which are placed on a board that appears to be floating.
In this way, the viewer sees a surreal painting where the eyes appear to be peering out of the lenses in order to correct the defect. The viewer sees unreal glasses with eyelashes. The work is done using gouache on paper.
Embroidering the terrestrial mantle, by Remedios Varo
A work made in the year 1961 being another work by the Spanish Mexican Remedios Varo where the artist performs a scene that is known as Towards the Tower and the Flight. This scene is personified when the artist spent time weaving in the convent while someone else was reading something.
In the scene it is tried to show that many women were weaving but the thread sprouted from a mysterious source. The present surrealist work was done in oil on masonite. The work is created in a very fantasy plot that was worthy of much sensitivity.
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