Surrealism: Skira Mini Artbooks

Skira Mini Artbooks

by Flaminio Gualdoni, Eileen Romano

A revolutionary movement, founded in 1924 by André Breton, dedicated to expressing the imagination as revealed in dreams. The surrealist circle was made up of many great artists, including Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Joan Miró, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2008

About the author

Flaminio Gualdoni è un critico d'arte, storico dell'arte e docente italiano.

Reviews

[Maryam Alhamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the introduction I was hoping for. Can’t say I learned much from it. Boring read. Nice art though.

[Sorairo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un po di ripasso non fai mai male, soprattutto se il museo non è dietro casa. E nemmeo rifarsi gli occhi... Ho riscoperto Magritte, Delvaux, Tanguy, Dalì,Man Ray e MAx Ernst... Certo, tutto non può piacere, ma nemmeno era l'obiettivo del movimento.

[Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best gifts come in small packages. This line sure applies to this book. In a few pages of scripts, I learned quite a bit about the Surrealism concept, history, and artists that were members of this movement.
I still don't understand the entire concept and how one can capture this concept in a drawing, let alone how to explain the concept and its application.
Still, to see these paintings can be a feast for the eyes. My favorites: Joan Miro and his style of representing scenes, Salvador Dali and his imagination, and, of course, Pablo Picasso and his ever-changing genius to re-invent himself to different art styles.
I was reminded of the movie "Midnight in Paris" as I read this book and studied the artwork. I just imagined Man Ray, Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel, and Gertrude Stein all sitting around, getting drunk and talking Surrealism.

[Tammi Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good introduction if you know nothing about surrealism. There are a lot of pictures and photos and mini bios at the end which I was thankful for.

[C]

I was disappointed to find that the opening photo displayed 20 brilliant surrealists yet there was not a single female… all were male!!!!!!!!!

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surrealism by Flaminio Gualdoni, edited by Eileen Romano and translated by Christopher Evans is part of the Skira Mini Artbooks series. It contains an introduction to the Surrealism art movement, 54 illustrations, a timeline, biographies of the main artists and a bibliography. There should be an emphasis on the word “mini.” The book was way too short. Now, with my appetite having been whetted, perhaps I’ll seek out more, or maybe not.