Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement

by Whitney Chadwick

This pioneering book stands as the most comprehensive treatment of the lives, ideas and art works of the remarkable group of women who were an essential part of the Surrealist movement.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History, Feminism, Womens, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Whitney Chadwick is a professor emerita at San Francisco State University. She has published on issues of gender and sexuality in surrealism, modernism, and contemporary art. Her book Women, Art, and Society (Thames and Hudson, 1990; fifth revised and updated edition, 2011) explores the history of women’s contributions to visual culture from the Middle Ages to the 21st century through an examination of the intersection of class, gender, race, and sexuality with culture, geography, politics, and criticism.

Chadwick received her PhD from the Pennsylvania State University. In 2003, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Gothenburg. Her research has been supported by fellowships at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Forum for Advanced Studies in Arts, Languages, and Theology at Uppsala University.

(from https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/peo...)

Reviews

[Carla Remy · Rating 5 out of 5]

04/2012

An interesting, informative book, but mostly remarkable for the paintings, many of which are hard to find reproduced anywhere else. Interesting to know just how much Surrealism was a man's game (hey, it was the 1920s - 40s, course it was). But with the guys' creepy preoccupation with child women and all, the mature female artists got marginalized. Well, ha ha guys, Frida Kahlo's more famous then all of you now (except maybe Dali). But many other remarkable painters like Kay Sage and Leonora Carrington, are not known. This book is a treasure in itself. I'd never read it before, but it's always been a special book for me - I bought it at MOMA when I was 18 , with my friend Meagan.

[Side Real Press · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was referred to quite often in Peter Redgrove’s 'The Black Goddess and the Sixth Sense' which I have reviewed elsewhere. First published in 1985 Chadwicks is now regarded as a pioneering book on the subject and reading it I can quite agree.

The major artists she refers to such asLee Miller, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim, Toyen, (though the book also includes a number still little acknowledged even today) are placed into their historical context in the earlier part of the book, a section that I found both very interesting and very clearly laid out.

The thrust of her thesis is that Women surrealists were marginalised from their male counterparts due to the latters emphasis on the works of Freud and their subscription to the idea that women were muses and therefore not quite capable of producing work in their own right.

Obviously the above summation is a very crude summary, and it is certainly true that a number of the men did actively encourage, or at least allow, their wives or girlfriends (for many of them ended in their beds) to produce work. But it would certainly appear from the interviews that she was able to conduct with those then still living women (one of the elements that make this book so interesting are various interviewees anecdotes and asides) and the illustrations that she chooses that the women looked towards different archetypes and more personal mythologies to work with. This is particularly apparent in the extremely interesting section concerning Lemedios Varo and Leonora Carrington who were in Mexico during the the early forties, where it seems that the location and their mutual support allowed them to develop bodies of work that were both surrealist and yet deeply personal. Nowadays this would be a book in itself, this chapter is probably all most would need.

There is also an excellent overview of the work of Leonor Fini who although she did not regard herself as part of the surrealist group proper (a number of other also women felt somewhat alienated) was able to pursue a very individual path that still aligned with many of the surrealist principles.

Although Ithell Colquhoun seems to be riding a bit of a wave at the present time of reviewing (2020), which means more words written about her, there is still much to be gleaned from Chadwick’s text, mainly because various interviews conducted with the artist are integrated into the sections concerning her. It is also interesting to compare the British Version of surrealism as practised by artists such as Colquhoun, Grace Pailthorpe and Eileen Agar with their European compatriots.

There are (as always with me) a few quibbles. One is that I would have liked to have seen Unica Zurn appear within the book, especially as her companion (artist Hans Bellmer) is so heavily referenced regarding his 'Doll' pieces. Another is that I noticed that the work of Grace Pailthorpe (at least from the illustrations on page223) has a lot of similarities with the work of ‘outsider artist’ Friedrich Schröder Sonnenstern and I would like to have seen something regarding the art of of the ‘insane’ in relation to female surrealism given the male opinions on madness. The last whinge is in regard to the illustrations which, although they are plentiful (and there are two colour plate sections) are generally in black and white and sometimes reproduced quite a small. I was easily able to solve this issue with a computer, calling up the images as I required them so I feel I am being perhaps a little too picky.

However, overall this is an excellent read and although I feel but I understand enough of Chadwick's thesis not to have to reread it again in its entirety, I can easily see that I will be coming back to it for reference as it is very well laid out, with information I don't remember from elsewhere, and with a good index that'll help me find it again. Another recommended title and one that is not too hard to find or overly expensive.

[Stephanie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this, although as my summer reading time is winding to a close, I tragically had to read far too quickly which it’s not the book for. It’s definitely a book, if you have the time, that can lead towards many different starting points of research. This is an amazing book and Chadwick is such a wonderful feminist art historian who has certainly taught me so much about women artists' lives and circumstances throughout history.
In this book, she discusses women surrealists and women who were somewhat associated with the movement (some who, rather admirably, refused to join it due to its restrictions on their own expressions and feminist beliefs). She studies both their lives and their artworks and the book is full of art and text.
This is an excellent book, deserving of close study and one I will definitely return to. One to own for sure.

[Gloria Dauden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Básico para mi investigación de final de grado.
Una lectura muy recomendable para cualquier interesado en arte.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

That the creative work of the men and women associated with Surrealism sometimes reveals conflicts between the theoretical and the practical, between a revolutionary demand for a fully integrated creative consciousness and an outer world still polarized in its attitudes toward male and female, is not a mark of ideological failure. It is rather a testament to Surrealism's pioneering exploration of creative waters previously left largely uncharted.

[peatrycze pergolette · Rating 5 out of 5]

biblia!

[Lydia Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as research for my University Course on Visual Culture in the literary world. A fantastic and wide-ranging examination of the brilliance of the female Surrealist mind. Beautifully illustrated, complete with delightful French-flaps: a real treat to browse through on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and treasure forever in my beloved art collection. Chadwick completely subverts the misogynistic notion of women solely as muses, indicating towards a plethora of incredible artists in order to render the female gaze as a worthy opponent to the hyper-masculine realms of Surreal art. No longer the passive and subservient ‘femme enfant’, these women are liberated from the restrictive boundaries of the art world—theirs is an endeavour characterised by manifold psychological layers, artistic maturity, and independence. Suck on that, Mr Dali!

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gem of a reference book which includes reproductions of the paintings referenced. I want to know more about Lee Miller, and Leonora Carrington, who had this to say:

Most of us, I hope, are now aware that a woman should not have to demand rights. The Rights were there from the beginning, they must be taken back again, including the mysteries which were ours, and which were violated, stolen, or destroyed…leaving us with the thankless hope of pleasing a male animal.

[polina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing was a bit too academic for me in places but overall, this was a very nice book which made me want to learn more about the many artists mentioned.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Surrealist movement which was centered around Andre Breton had some very particular beliefs about woman as Muse:

But it is the idea of woman that will prevail, not the real woman. "The femme-enfant," declared Péret, "arouses the love of the totally virile man because she completes him trait for trait. This love reveals her to herself while projecting her into a marvelous world.... She waited for love as blossoming for the sun and she welcomes it in the present, but more sumptuous than she had dreamed it. She wears sublime love... but it is necessary that it be revealed to her."

Fueling the male imagination by projecting it onto woman, Breton and Péret turn her into an abstract principle, a universal and an ideal. Passive and compliant, she waits for the world to be revealed to her. What they give us, finally, is not a role for woman independent of man, even as they acknowledge her power and her proximity to the sources of creativity, but a new image of the couple in which woman completes man, is brought to life by him, and, in turn, inspires him. The role of the woman artist as a creator in her own right can be sought only in her works.

Chadwick goes to lengths to say Breton's movement was supportive of women artists. But still, women never were core members of his group. Chadwick's research shows instead that the women artists otherwise associated with the group weren't interested because Breton's idea of woman as Muse did nothing for them:

Surrealism's idealized vision of woman was like an albatross around the neck of the woman artist, difficult to ignore but of no help in forging a personal identity as an artist. The muse, an externalized source of creative energy and a personification of the female Other, is a peculiarly male invention. Asked how they felt about the Surrealist identification of woman and muse, Leonora Carrington responded with a single word, "bullshit," and Ithell Colquhoun commented that "Breton's vision of the 'free and adored woman' didn't always prove a practical help for women, especially painters." These insights came later, almost fifty years after the publication of the first Surrealist Manifesto, but they help us understand one reason why so many women artists have argued that they weren't really Surrealists. Frida Kahlo often said that Breton and his circle "thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality." Léonor Fini refused to join the Surrealist group officially, although she exhibited with the group during the 1930s and early 1940s, and has steadfastly maintained that she was never a Surrealist. She has also argued that although Carrington was a revolutionary, "a true revolutionary," she was never a Surrealist.

This book illustrates its point with great precision, and I found it offers a very penetrating and rewarding interpretation of surrealism in general, and surrealist painting in particular.

[Sadie McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not surprising that the surrealists were a bunch of male manipulators who thought they were more deep than they actually were - calling for a radical new way of thinking yet keeping women firmly as the muse. No wonder I always liked them!

I understood most of this, and hope to one day be smart enough to understand all of it. Learned more about some of my favorite artists and plenty of new ones - and even about the origins of the surrealist movement itself.

Whitney Chadwick is a boss and I’d like to read more of her.

[Yoruichi · Rating 4 out of 5]

tellement dommage que pour un livre parlant d'art, la couleur soit si rare dans les reproductions. néanmoins, j'ai beaucoup appris. le texte est bien écrit, les illustrations à propos et proches du moment où on en parle. une très agréable lecture.

[Elin Mikaelian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt my favorite book I've read in 2023

[emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

these women surrealists are freaky as fuck (with admiration).

[Kari Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were definitely some slower parts but I learned a ton!

[Emma Santucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

would give this more stars if i could!!!!!!

[Mandi Fast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo interesting and many things to read further about

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this very well researched and written book about 15 years ago and was amazed and delighted by how many women were involved in Surrealism, as well as ashamed at how few of them were known about, by me and almost everybody else. This was one of the reasons I chose to research and write about the subject myself, so this was the seminal study for me.

Can't really say when I finished the book, it's a great research tool and I return to it regularly.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a landmark study--certainly one of the best out there and a pioneering work when it first appeared. For a fuller description of the issue of women and Surrealism, I refer readers to my review of Penelope Rosemont's Surrealist Women: An International Anthology.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book and return to it often to find inspiration for writing and for painting...it is also just nice to look at

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

fanTASTique! I found this brand new in the local library. It's a wonderful book.

[Justinia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just re-purchased this book. My all-time favorite.

[Debra Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the Surrealist movement. It is the part of history most forgotten, the womens role. A worthwhile read.

[Carolyn Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book comes with prerequisites. You must already be familiar with Andre Breton, Paul Éluard, Salvador Dali, and other surrealists. The author explains in her introduction that she is just focusing on female artists, and she means it. There is a great "biographical notes" section in the back of the book that provides one paragraph biographies of the female artists, but nothing comparable for the men. This plus the thematic organization makes it a little difficult to get through.

The first chapter is very long and deals with the beliefs of the male surrealists and how they regarded women. Their version of the ideal woman seems to be a combination of pre-Raphaelite romanticism and Freudian child sexuality. Basically the original Manic Pixie Dream Girl. They claimed to celebrate independence and want creative freedom for women, but they objected to the 1920s New Woman as too assertive and worldly. They wanted women to be naive, ethereal, wild, and worshipful. Chadwick lets us know that they objected to bourgeois ideas of love in favor of erotic love that included/encouraged man-on-woman sodomy and sadism. However they were adamantly against homosexuality, especially between men. All of these themes come through in the male surrealists' poetry, films, and art.

Later chapters deal more with how the female artists saw themselves. Many rejected the label of surrealism. Most developed a surrealist style on their own and then were discovered by Andre Breton and others. Critics (and male surrealists) saw their style as proof that women are more in touch with their subconscious (and more irrational) than male artists. The book is full of not only images of these women's artwork, but also candid photos taken on holiday and in social gatherings. Because the later chapters are organized thematically not chronologically, the biographical notes at the end of the book are very useful. The themes addressed include how women artists perceived their own sexuality, their relationship with nature, and pagan philosophy, and how their treatment of these topics differed from that of the male surrealists. All surrealist mediums are covered: photography, literature, paint, sculpture, cinema.