Surrealism

An artistic and literary movement led by French poet and writer André Breton from 1924 through World War II. Drawing on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud, the Surrealists sought to overthrow what they perceived as the oppressive rationalism of modern society by accessing the sur réalisme (superior reality) of the subconscious. In his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, Breton argued for an uninhibited mode of expression derived from the mind’s involuntary mechanisms—particularly dreams—and called on artists to explore the uncharted depths of the imagination with radical new methods and visual forms. These ranged from automatic drawings to hyper-realistic painted scenes to uncanny combinations of materials and objects.