Artists of Surrealism

Andre Breton' Surrealist Manifesto of 1924 defined Surrealism as pure psychic automatism, by means of which one proposes to express the real functioning of thought. Surrealist philosophy emerged as an outgrowth of Dada and the adherents of Surrealism thought that the horrors of World War I were the culmination of the Industrial Revolution and the result of the rational mind. The artists of Surrealism regarded irrational thought and dream-states to be the natural antidote to those social problems. The development of Surrealism movement was also influenced by the Marxist dialectic, Freudian theory, the work of such theorists as Walter Benjamin and Herbert Marcuse. The main aim of Surrealism is to revolutionize human experience by freeing people from what is seen as false rationality, and restrictive customs and structures.

Among the artists of surrealism there was a German surrealist artist of Dada school, one of the primary pioneers of Dada movement and Surrealism Max Ernst (1891 – 1976). He was born in Brühl, Germany. After the World War I, Ernst along with Jean Arp and social activist Alfred Grünwald, formed the Cologne, Germany Dada group. Ernst invented a graphic art technique called frottage, which uses pencil rubbings of objects as a source of images, he also explored with the technique of decalcomania.

At the beginning of the Second World War the artists of surrealism continued to correspond and meet. During the 1940s Surrealism's influence reached England and America, the artists went on experimenting with Surrealist techniques. In 1978 one of the first British Surrealists Conroy Maddox organized an exhibition of current Surrealist work titled Surrealism Unlimited. With the lapse of time some artists of Surrealism developed their own vision and style. Some figures were expelled from the Surrealism movement. Thus, Magritte's work became more realistic in its depiction of actual objects. Duchamp continued to produce sculpture, he was working on an installation with the realistic depiction of a woman viewable only through a peephole. The founding of The West Coast Surrealist Group initiated an expansion of Surrealism during the 1960s. In 2001 there was an exhibition of Surrealist art that attracted over 170,000 visitors in its run. This fact can prove that the movement proceeds to inspire a new generation of artists. These days there are lots of painters that keep on developing the surrealist movement, and there are also lots of admirers that enjoy surreal painting. If you belong to this category of people you shouldn't pass by the selection of contemporary Ukrainian artist Valeriy Klinkov.