Surrealism

by Patrick Waldberg

"An excellent picture of a movement which...has had a profound effect on the arts of the twentieth century."― The Times Educational Supplement The character of Surrealism had been crystallizing over the previous five years when, in 1924, Andre Breton's Manifeste du Surrealisme defined the word. As conceived in those early days it was not so much a formal movement as a spiritual orientation, embracing ethics and politics as well as the arts. Recourse to dreams, to the unconscious, to chance factors, to automatism dictated the Surrealist mode. Patrick Waldberg prefaces this collection of key documents with an overview of Surrealism from its beginnings to the present time. 197 illustrations, 8 in color

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Art Design, Cultural

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

NEVER ask a woman her age, NEVER ask a man his salary, and NEVER ask french philosophers their opinions on age of consent laws.

[Drew Pyke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is less about what surrealism is and more about the protagonists of the movement. You end up perhaps reading too much about Breton et al and the various milestones of the group but feel hard done by when it comes to any exposition of their works or techniques. This is more a historic than art book

[Nikoleta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ένα πολυ καλό βιβλίο για την κατανόηση των βασικών αρχών του κινήματος του σουρρεαλισμού. Μια πολύ καλή συλλογή απο άρθρα, φωτογραφίες και εικόνες του κινήματος, της καλλιτεχνικής και πολιτικής του δράσης. Ένα πλέον κλασσικό βιβλιο, απο έναν μελετητή που είχε ο ίδιος για 10 χρόνια περίπου πάρει μέρος στο κίνημα του σουρρεαλισμού.

[Raerae5 · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were boobs 🥰

[Scott Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people, like myself, just think of Surrealism as a genre of painting, but it not only embraced all of the arts, but it was originally conceived as a way of looking at life. This book contains a 40 page introduction to the concept and to the minds behind it, followed by writings by various practitioners. The introduction was interesting, if a little dry, but the writings left me cold. I think I preferred my earlier, ignorant view of the movement. The book is interspersed with photographs of surrealist artists and writers, as well as examples of their works. The photographs of the people are cool, as are the ink drawings. I also liked the color reproductions of paintings, but there were also many black and white reproductions, which are so common in cheap art books and which drive me nuts. I would rather have no reproductions at all if i can't see the original colors (or an approximation of them.)

[AHW · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small into to Surrealism by one of its partisans and some source texts, disproportionately by Andre Breton. 3-star rating is for the book as a whole and for the texts themselves, which interpret a basically correct idea - that art can and should reach towards an experience of absolute reality - in the most confused, reactionary and individualistic ways.

[Michael Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent historical book on the generalized subject of surrealism.

[Aiden LiVigni · Rating 3 out of 5]

good summary of the art style

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little intro to surrealism with a selection of writings from members of the movement

[ENZO MOSCHETTA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Michael Percy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought this book was an old high school art text. But after a while, it was obvious that the book is a collection of original works by Ernst, Dali, and in particular, Andre Breton, written for a number of surrealist magazines over several decades. The references to Rimbaud made me think of Bob Dylan, and the fascination with Freud, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx and Engels, and many other great thinkers threw me. The development of surrealism from the early 1920s well into the 1960s was also a surprising discovery. The fascination with automatic writing makes me wonder to what extent Jack Kerouac was influenced by surrealism. There are many colour and black and white photos of the artists and their work, and the notes and biographical details are helpfully comprehensive. I must admit that I knew little of surrealism beyond Dali, and it is interesting for a movement that, to some extent, was a revolution against academe, was so very much academic despite its reputation.