Surrealism is an artistic, cultural and intellectual movement oriented toward the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative faculties of the "unconscious mind" and the attainment of a dream-like state different from, "more than", and ultimately "truer" than everyday reality: the "sur-real", or "more than real".
, Frida 1907–1954.Mexican artist known for her surrealist self-portraits depicting physical and psychic pain.
From our Archives: Today's Highlights, July 6, 2005
Ma·gritte (mä-gret') , René 1898–1967.
Belgian painter whose surreal works, such as Steps of Summer (1938), depict ordinary objects in unexpected or implausible situations.
Recurring images in his paintings include:
- the man with the bowler hat, sometimes thought to represent the artist, sometimes to represent the bourgeous- sometimes individuals, other times in groups
- fire
- birds
- large rocks
Another typical theme which exemplifies his juxtapositions is the day/night combination. Magritte would paint a house which was completely covered in darkness except for the lights which were turned on -- it was night. However, the sky would be bright blue -- it was day. The two are some how blended flawlessly, and I have to admit I didn't realize that there was anything wrong with the painting for quite some time. Pretty amazing.
As for the story of his mother, one night while the rest of the house slept, she got up, walked to a nearby bridge (still in her night gown), and jumped in. When her body was finally recovered, washed up on the shore, her night gown was wrapped around her head - almost exactly like the two kissing in The Lovers.
Salvador Dali:
Salvador Dalí had quite an abnormnal youth. Many of the things that he experienced during his childhood had a profound effect on his paintings.
Before he was born, his mom gave birth to another child who she ended up naming Salvador Dalí. This Dalí did not live for long (rat got into crib). Only nine months after the first Salvador Dalí's death, the next Salvador Dalí was born.
Dalí's parents treated him as if he were a reincarnation of his brother. Dalí felt as if he had to live for both himself and his brother. This caused Dalí to have very disturbing mental images, which eventually showed up in his paintings.
Dalí did not fit in at school. He was the receiver of many jokes. The teasing became so extreme that other children would throw bugs at him. This teasing caused one of the most obvious motifs in Dalí's paintings. He paints bugs, especially grasshoppers, into many of his paintings.
Although the effects of the events below are not as profound in Dalí's paintings, I would have to imagine that they affected him somehow.
Dalí would fall down stairs at school randomly just to see the look on peoples' faces.
And that is only a mere glimpse into the "abnormal" life of Dalí.
