Dadaism laid the groundwork for the evolution of Surrealism. The Dada movement was against modern art and one could even say that it made a joke of it. Most artists in the movement were not just painters, or sculptors but in fact, were multitalented and participated in various art forms. “The Dada movement was perhaps the most decisive single influence on the development of twentieth-century art, and its innovations are so pervasive as to be virtually taken for granted today.”( http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/archive.html) These art forms would

include Surrealism, Pop-Art and Minimalism, for example. Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase was one of the most popular paintings to come out of this era. This painting is innovative because he utilized “chrono-photography” to display the nude in his painting. One must look very closely to see the vision in the painting, but once it is seen you can clearly see the nude walking down the stairs. He created a controversy with this piece of work upon its release; it was praised and ridiculed at the same time. Andre Breton was also a contributor to the Surrealism era. A Dadaist at first, he then progressed into the Surrealist movement as well. While he did not contribute any artwork, he did assist in the opening of a studio for studying Surrealism.

Classical Surrealism is the artistic rendering of a dream. However, the artist doesn not attempt to recreate the dream into a “sensible” image. Rather, the artist displays the dream as it came to them, allowing various images that may not logically make sense, to exist in one place. Rene Magritte’s Golconde is an excellent example of classical surrealism at its best. Clearly, this is an image that could never “really” happen in reality. But as dream, this may make sense to the dreamer or may even be a subconscious message or memory of something that truly did happen in reality. Only the dreamer can truly explain the meaning behind this, but as a viewer it is interesting to wonder on the meaning behind it.

Paul Delvaux’s Pink Bows is his way of revealing how woman were not much more than pretty decorations in society. I think the women without the bows are especially significant. They signify the women rebelling against their “place” in society.

Some topics in this essay:
Veristic Surrealism, Jean Arp, Surrealism Automatism, Surrealism Dada, Donald Kuspit, Darn Horse, Magritte’s Golconde, Descending Staircase, Social Surrealism, Classical Surrealism, art form, veristic surrealism, type art, art forms, form surrealism, dada movement, surrealism automatism form, meaning viewer, surrealism automatism, accepted art, art critics, automatism form surrealism, accepted art critics,