Woman and Bird, 1982, by Joan Miró, in Barcelona, Spain
“Surrealism: The chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella!" —Les Chants de Maldoror, Comte de Lautreamont, 1869
One of the major art movements of the 20th century, surrealism opened the door to the exploration of the unconscious and the creation of art based on inner reality. It was an art of disquiet, sabotaging the existing order of things. Freud’s dream research liberated surrealist artists to see the truth of who we really are, and in their work, dreams became equivalent to imagination itself.
Artist and art historian Joseph Cassar explores the origins of surrealism, its widespread influence, and many of its most prominent artists including Max Ernst, Jean Arp, Joan Miro, Andre Masson, Rene Magritte, Alberto Giacometti, and Salvador Dali.
9:30–10:45 a.m. Metaphysical Art and the Anxieties of the 20th Century
Precursors to surrealism: Giorgio de Chirico, metaphysical art, and Dada.
11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Andre Breton and the Surrealist Manifesto
Andre Breton emerges as a major protagonist and the main force behind the movement. Two surrealist manifestoes are examined.
12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own)
1:30–2:30 p.m. The Surrealist Revolution: Magritte, Ernst, Masson, and Others
A critical analysis of the iconography of the works of Magritte, the use of sand in the works of Masson, and of rubbings in the works of Max Ernst.
2:45–4 p.m. Salvador Dali and the Paranoiac-Critical Method
The genius of Salvador Dali led him to reject traditional forms and techniques of painting to find creative inspiration in the worlds of dreams and the imagination.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit
