Surrealism - A Dream-like Form of Art
Surrealism is the art movement that came next to cubism. This was a time when art works primarily featured surreal images, thus the name. Art form influenced by surrealism has been described as highly creative to the point of being dreamlike, and the objective is to surprise the viewer. Surrealist art is distinctly abundant in stunning juxtapositions.
Even as some art works of this time were humorous in some way, their artists of the site at http://www.thesurrealists.org/surrealism.html claimed that these actually stand for philosophical beliefs. One of the most significant artists of the movement, Andre Breton, who was at the same time a writer and an activist, always asserted that the movement was actually a revolutionary movement, not only for its unconventionality, but also in relation to the politics, philosophy and psychology of the period.
Surrealism started in the 1920's at the beginning of the first World War, around the era when the abstract movement of Dadaism and cubism was gradually fading. It was about the same time when the young artists living in the French capital city of Paris were forced to leave because of the war. Nonetheless, this art form stayed within Paris and slowly spread to different parts of the world. Painting during this movement were filled with psychological and philosophical undertones as depicted by their artists. This is the same reason surrealism has been linked with Freudian and situationist movements.
It was in 1925 when the globe's first surrealist art exhibition was staged at Gallerie Pierre in Paris. The event featured works by iconic artists, Masson and Man Ray, among many others.This show had historical value, being the event that confirmed New York Surrealism as an accepted visual art form.
It was in the 1930's when the movement's golden age started. It was at this time that surrealism really excelled and the globe enjoyed such magnificent masterpieces such as Salvador Dali's 'The Persistence of Memory' in 1931 and Max Ernst's 'L'Ange du Foyeur ou le Triomphe du Surr?alisme' in in 1937. Also in the early part of the 1930's was Britain's first surrealist group created. Meanwhile, Dali and Magritte were creating world-renowned pieces, including Dali's runny and melting time pieces.
Surrealism was such a huge force in the art world that it didn't stop at the painted form, but rather went on to penetrate the others such as film, theater and poetry. Surrealist writers were known to resist thought organization in their works, but in the end, they still managed to get a clear message across.
Today, there remain artists who dabble with surrealist art, and just like their predecessors, they too have the inclination to create their works rich in philosophical overtures.