"Reveals
more clearly than ever the consistently fertilizing influence
of surrealism."
—Art and Artists
Surrealism
was a revolution. Unlike other modern movements such as cubism and
geometrical abstraction, it was not based purely on artistic innovation;
its aim was nothing less than the liberation, in art and in life,
of the resources of the subconscious mind. Sarane Alexandrian traces
the development of surrealism from its origins in the Dada anti-art
revolt of 1916-1920 to the death of its guiding spirit, André
Breton, in 1966, which marked the end of its existence as a formal
entity. The author discusses and illustrates an astonishing variety
of surrealist artists, including not only such giants of the movement
as Dalí, Miró, Duchamp, Tanguy and Magritte, but a host
of other remarkable talents.
Surrealism
was a revolution. Unlike other modern movements such as cubism and
geometrical abstraction, it was not based purely on artistic innovation;
its aim was nothing less than the liberation, in art and in life,
of the resources of the subconscious mind. Sarane Alexandrian traces
the development of surrealism from its origins in the Dada anti-art
revolt of 1916-1920 to the death of its guiding spirit, André
Breton, in 1966, which marked the end of its existence as a formal
entity. The author discusses and illustrates an astonishing variety
of surrealist artists, including not only such giants of the movement
as Dalí, Miró, Duchamp, Tanguy and Magritte, but a host
of other remarkable talents.