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Surrealisternes liv
I den gennemillustrerede Surrealisternes liv, med portrætter af kunstnerne og deres kendte kunstværker, giver Desmond Morris et personligt, rørende, humoristisk og først og fremmest vidende portræt af de 32 mest fremtrædende kunstnere i den surrealistiske kreds omkring André Breton i 20’erne, 30’erneog 40’erne. Wilhelm Freddie, Dalí, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp og Magritte er bare nogen af de kunstnere, som bliver portrætteret i bogen – en helt forrygende samling kunstnere, som var forenet om det samme projekt … at gøre hverdagen og kunsten lidt mere surrealistisk.
Surrealismens kunst bliver mere og mere populær i disse år, og tusindvis af museumsgæster flokkes til udstillinger om Dalí, Magritte, Francis Bacon og Picasso. De syrede og smukke værker, som ofte har drømmeagtige landskaber, mærkelige væsener og bizarre sammensætninger, sælges for rekordbeløb verden over, og surrealismen indeholder formodentligt den mest intense samling kunstnere nogensinde i én isme.
Kunstnere, der laver så syret kunst, har ofte en syret personlighed, og en stor del af bogen beskriver også surrealisternes outrerede seksuelle tilbøjeligheder, mærkelige happenings og generelt pudsige indfald. Surrealisternes liv – en meget, meget underholdende bog.
Surrealismens kunst bliver mere og mere populær i disse år, og tusindvis af museumsgæster flokkes til udstillinger om Dalí, Magritte, Francis Bacon og Picasso. De syrede og smukke værker, som ofte har drømmeagtige landskaber, mærkelige væsener og bizarre sammensætninger, sælges for rekordbeløb verden over, og surrealismen indeholder formodentligt den mest intense samling kunstnere nogensinde i én isme.
Kunstnere, der laver så syret kunst, har ofte en syret personlighed, og en stor del af bogen beskriver også surrealisternes outrerede seksuelle tilbøjeligheder, mærkelige happenings og generelt pudsige indfald. Surrealisternes liv – en meget, meget underholdende bog.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
45 people are currently reading
757 people want to read
About the author
Desmond Morris
238 books571 followersDesmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 13, 2018
A fun gossipy romp of mini-bios of various surrealism. Learned a little more about surrealists I already knew about and learned about some surrealists that I did not know existed. Always good to learn more about a subject you feel you know quite a bit about.
June 24, 2019
I knew very little about this subject until I read this book-esoteric, yes, but very interesting nonetheless. What made it more intriguing was the author Desmond Morris (who also wrote the bestselling THE NAKED APE) was also a surrealist painter and actually knew many of his fellow painters.
April 10, 2024
3.5 stars.
Reads like a gossip rag highlighting all the weirdest sexcapades and wildest quirks of the surrealist movement. Some of the best of which is Andre Breton, well-known as the leader and writer of the Surrealist Manifesto, who features in many of these biographies for his opinionated nonsense and relentless desire to have beef with every artist of note. It became kind of funny to get to a new artist profile and read "expelled from the group by Andre Breton in 19xx" or hear someone described as "could not get along with Breton," "Breton hated them," "Breton was jealous that they were more popular than them."
However, I did get bored at some point past the halfway point, because one can only read about this man sleeping with x number of women in y manner so many times, and while the author himself is very upfront about there being no academic methodology to choosing which surrealists he highlighted, the absence of some notable female surrealists was definitely felt. Nowhere did it get more obvious than at the very end, when he opened Dorothea Tanning with "she broke two records - she lived longer than any of the other surrealists and of all the many sexual partnerships enjoyed by Max Ernst, hers was the longest," like...okay man, I'm tired. I didn't learn much about Tanning, but I now I know she spent thirty years with Ernst. At some point it simply got grating--many of the surrealist's partners were artists within their own right and they are mentioned as such--Kay Sage, Dora Maar, Lee Miller--but never got their own dedication and are only discussed in the context of the men they spent their lives with. I understand Morris is a fossil of the movement himself, but for a book published in 2018 we can and should do better.
Reads like a gossip rag highlighting all the weirdest sexcapades and wildest quirks of the surrealist movement. Some of the best of which is Andre Breton, well-known as the leader and writer of the Surrealist Manifesto, who features in many of these biographies for his opinionated nonsense and relentless desire to have beef with every artist of note. It became kind of funny to get to a new artist profile and read "expelled from the group by Andre Breton in 19xx" or hear someone described as "could not get along with Breton," "Breton hated them," "Breton was jealous that they were more popular than them."
However, I did get bored at some point past the halfway point, because one can only read about this man sleeping with x number of women in y manner so many times, and while the author himself is very upfront about there being no academic methodology to choosing which surrealists he highlighted, the absence of some notable female surrealists was definitely felt. Nowhere did it get more obvious than at the very end, when he opened Dorothea Tanning with "she broke two records - she lived longer than any of the other surrealists and of all the many sexual partnerships enjoyed by Max Ernst, hers was the longest," like...okay man, I'm tired. I didn't learn much about Tanning, but I now I know she spent thirty years with Ernst. At some point it simply got grating--many of the surrealist's partners were artists within their own right and they are mentioned as such--Kay Sage, Dora Maar, Lee Miller--but never got their own dedication and are only discussed in the context of the men they spent their lives with. I understand Morris is a fossil of the movement himself, but for a book published in 2018 we can and should do better.
September 28, 2018
I didn't much care for the author's occasional pontificating (a surrealist himself, he knew many of the people he writes about) - at one point he expresses surprise that a husband/wife remained devoted to one another for many decades despite the fact that they never had children, prompting a serious eye roll from me. I also found his obsession with the surrealists' sex lives a bit off-putting.
However, it was nice to read a book about art that wasn't focused on art theory. Also, I know little about surrealism, so I learned a lot. I enjoyed that it included a picture from each artist, so I got to see a lot of interesting art.
However, it was nice to read a book about art that wasn't focused on art theory. Also, I know little about surrealism, so I learned a lot. I enjoyed that it included a picture from each artist, so I got to see a lot of interesting art.
August 4, 2023
E' un libro che ho letto molto lentamente, essendo una sequenza di brevi biografie degli autori più importanti per il movimento surrealista.
La lettura è stata piacevole, tuttavia non ho trovato particolari esaltanti e molto spesso mi sono ritrovata a dirmi che tutto sommato quello che scriveva l'autore non era poi così rilevante ai fini della comprensione del movimento surrealista (soprattutto la quasi morbosa attenzione alla vita sessuale di tutti gli autori menzionati).
Insomma, un libro carino se si vuole leggere a grandi linee la vita degli autori qui menzionati, senza però aspettarsi nulla di più di brevi e superficiali aneddoti.
La lettura è stata piacevole, tuttavia non ho trovato particolari esaltanti e molto spesso mi sono ritrovata a dirmi che tutto sommato quello che scriveva l'autore non era poi così rilevante ai fini della comprensione del movimento surrealista (soprattutto la quasi morbosa attenzione alla vita sessuale di tutti gli autori menzionati).
Insomma, un libro carino se si vuole leggere a grandi linee la vita degli autori qui menzionati, senza però aspettarsi nulla di più di brevi e superficiali aneddoti.
May 20, 2019
Neveril by som, že krátke životopisy môžu byť tak zábavné, ale keďže Desmond Morris tam naozaj v istom čase bol, jeho subjektívny pohľad dodáva opisovaným umelcom tretí rozmer - väčšinou nie úplne lichotivý, úplne iný, ako sa snažili prezentovať ale ľudský. Takže okrem klasických faktov môžete čakať klebety o interných románikov, historky zo surrealistických žúrov a nepríjemné psychologické charatkteristiky. Super.
Čítané v češtine: Životy Surrealistu
Čítané v češtine: Životy Surrealistu
January 16, 2019
A good introduction to Surrealist artists and their lives, but not so much their art. Makes sense, since this was a collection of mini biographies, not art analyses, but it would have been nice to have a brief gallery of 4-5 artworks of each artist to see their stylistic changes over the years, rather than just one (usually semi-obscure) artwork from a select decade. Despite this, I didn't mind googling each artist to see even more of their works, which just helped me to find even more favorite artworks.
Most prominent Surrealist painters and sculptors are included in here, although there are still a few prominent ones that were left out, even though I thought they would have met the criteria for Morris's inclusion in the book.
I hadn't really known anything about the Surrealist manifestos and artistic groups that existed, and this provided an interesting look at just how these groups seemed to hamper the exact random inspiration that Surrealism was all about. It didn't help that it started out more as a poetic and literary art form, and that Breton wasn't really into visual artwork himself, but even then, the strict rules and manifesto imposed on creativity just hampered it from the beginning. I can't imagine having to try and conform to it, and I understand why so many artists either left the groups or didn't officially join them.
In the end, Surrealism really is so broad in style and imagery that I can't really think of it as a specific artistic movement; rather it's just a good word to classify the weird.
Most prominent Surrealist painters and sculptors are included in here, although there are still a few prominent ones that were left out, even though I thought they would have met the criteria for Morris's inclusion in the book.
I hadn't really known anything about the Surrealist manifestos and artistic groups that existed, and this provided an interesting look at just how these groups seemed to hamper the exact random inspiration that Surrealism was all about. It didn't help that it started out more as a poetic and literary art form, and that Breton wasn't really into visual artwork himself, but even then, the strict rules and manifesto imposed on creativity just hampered it from the beginning. I can't imagine having to try and conform to it, and I understand why so many artists either left the groups or didn't officially join them.
In the end, Surrealism really is so broad in style and imagery that I can't really think of it as a specific artistic movement; rather it's just a good word to classify the weird.
April 22, 2025
I loved the fact that famous ethologist Desmond Morris was also a surrealist painter! I liked how the book was organized...alphabetical list of painters connected to the surrealist movement. Many of them I had never heard of. Some, like Dali, I now wish I knew less about. Lots of juicy gossip. Key demographic details were provided on birth, death, locations, and major romantic partners. I had recently read Peggy Guggenheims "Out of This Century", which made a nice pairing with this book. Plus, I watched Transatlantic on PBS which also featured some of the surrealist artists. Although these books were a bit gossipy, I feel that I have a much better understanding of the motivations and context for these artists and the movement.
October 19, 2022
In a sense, this is a five-star book because I don't see how it could have been done any better. And in a disjoined way, there is a pretty good history of Surrealism in these pages. Sure, its gossipy and opinionated, but since Morris knew so many of these artists (he was a part of that art movement), I expect there is a useful historical record here.
The volume contains thirty mini-biographies, and they are as well done as that space limit allows. There is also a picture of each artist in their prime, and one example of their art. I found myself wanting more, especially examples of what each had produced. It was no surprise, though a disappointment, that the thirty artists represented include only five women, and they were as artists generally at the periphery of the movement.
An initial Surrealist manifesto was produced by Andre Breton in 1924, and the movement died bit by bit after World War II. Breton was an autocrat, and many Surrealist artists refused to join the group officially for that reason (including a number in the book). The movement also suffered from a paradox Breton created: Surrealist art is supposed to spring spontaneously from an artist's subconscious yet Breton created a lot of rules for art which qualified for membership in the group.
This was a tight in-group; so many Surrealist artists were intimately involved with others in the movement, including, often, sexually. Max Ernst seems to have slept with a lot of the wives of his colleagues, and Peggy Guggenheim, who Morris said aimed to bed a thousand men, had quite a lot of conquests among the Surrealists.
Paris was for most of the time the center of this artistic style, though as World War II approached, many in the group relocated to New York. Morris also includes where each artist lived, and it was striking how many relocated very often, within Europe and beyond.
It seems clear that Surrealism is a tonic for long life! Morris himself is 94, and 9 of his artists also lived to 90 or beyond (and twenty made it at least to eighty).
My guess is this book is better matched to someone already interested in Surrealism, as I am. It might be a bit confusing for someone coming to it cold. But if you have this interest, I found the book curious, chatty and fun.
The volume contains thirty mini-biographies, and they are as well done as that space limit allows. There is also a picture of each artist in their prime, and one example of their art. I found myself wanting more, especially examples of what each had produced. It was no surprise, though a disappointment, that the thirty artists represented include only five women, and they were as artists generally at the periphery of the movement.
An initial Surrealist manifesto was produced by Andre Breton in 1924, and the movement died bit by bit after World War II. Breton was an autocrat, and many Surrealist artists refused to join the group officially for that reason (including a number in the book). The movement also suffered from a paradox Breton created: Surrealist art is supposed to spring spontaneously from an artist's subconscious yet Breton created a lot of rules for art which qualified for membership in the group.
This was a tight in-group; so many Surrealist artists were intimately involved with others in the movement, including, often, sexually. Max Ernst seems to have slept with a lot of the wives of his colleagues, and Peggy Guggenheim, who Morris said aimed to bed a thousand men, had quite a lot of conquests among the Surrealists.
Paris was for most of the time the center of this artistic style, though as World War II approached, many in the group relocated to New York. Morris also includes where each artist lived, and it was striking how many relocated very often, within Europe and beyond.
It seems clear that Surrealism is a tonic for long life! Morris himself is 94, and 9 of his artists also lived to 90 or beyond (and twenty made it at least to eighty).
My guess is this book is better matched to someone already interested in Surrealism, as I am. It might be a bit confusing for someone coming to it cold. But if you have this interest, I found the book curious, chatty and fun.
January 27, 2022
Los seres humanos somos interesantes.
Descubrir los avatares de artistas notables es afán por la vida. Desmod Morris, sí, el mismo que escribió El mono desnudo y que también fue un pintor surrealista - me acabo de enterar- es el autor de éste libro. Incluye a pocas mujeres pintoras, sin embargo, su selección de artistas es acertada y bien justificada.
Aprecio el arte surrealista en general y el conocer detalles peculiares y a veces escandalosos de los artistas, me ha ayudado a ver sus pinturas y esculturas con mayor atención y entendimiento.
Fue muy entretenido leer acerca de sus vidas, y gracias a ello busqué más de sus obras. Volví a acercarme a los libros que tengo de Dora Maar, Picasso, Remedios Varo. Me envolví en los cuadros de Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini. Me dejé seducir por el guapísimo Max Ernst, desprecié la personalidad de Breton, me reconcilié con Miró, bufé con Dalí. Me llené de pena con la terrible mala suerte de Arshile Gorky que fue más allá de la vida. Descubrí que Alexander Calder inventó los móbiles que tanta fascinación ejercen sobre mí. Pude imaginar el asombro que causó “el objeto surrealista por excelencia “ de Meret Oppenheim. Comprendí mejor la obra de Giacometti, Francis Bacon, Yves Tanguy y Marcel Duchamp.
Recomiendo mucho la lectura de este ejemplar que adquirí en la exposición temporal de René Magritte en el Museo Thyssen de Madrid, la cual disfruté enormemente y leer acerca de la vida del pintor belga, hizo que apreciase aún más sus cuadros.
Si hubiese sido pintora, definitivamente me habría gustado ser surrealista, asociada al grupo pero sin unirme a él. Fue un momento artístico en el que las mujeres se atrevieron a expresarse con gran libertad.
Descubrir los avatares de artistas notables es afán por la vida. Desmod Morris, sí, el mismo que escribió El mono desnudo y que también fue un pintor surrealista - me acabo de enterar- es el autor de éste libro. Incluye a pocas mujeres pintoras, sin embargo, su selección de artistas es acertada y bien justificada.
Aprecio el arte surrealista en general y el conocer detalles peculiares y a veces escandalosos de los artistas, me ha ayudado a ver sus pinturas y esculturas con mayor atención y entendimiento.
Fue muy entretenido leer acerca de sus vidas, y gracias a ello busqué más de sus obras. Volví a acercarme a los libros que tengo de Dora Maar, Picasso, Remedios Varo. Me envolví en los cuadros de Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini. Me dejé seducir por el guapísimo Max Ernst, desprecié la personalidad de Breton, me reconcilié con Miró, bufé con Dalí. Me llené de pena con la terrible mala suerte de Arshile Gorky que fue más allá de la vida. Descubrí que Alexander Calder inventó los móbiles que tanta fascinación ejercen sobre mí. Pude imaginar el asombro que causó “el objeto surrealista por excelencia “ de Meret Oppenheim. Comprendí mejor la obra de Giacometti, Francis Bacon, Yves Tanguy y Marcel Duchamp.
Recomiendo mucho la lectura de este ejemplar que adquirí en la exposición temporal de René Magritte en el Museo Thyssen de Madrid, la cual disfruté enormemente y leer acerca de la vida del pintor belga, hizo que apreciase aún más sus cuadros.
Si hubiese sido pintora, definitivamente me habría gustado ser surrealista, asociada al grupo pero sin unirme a él. Fue un momento artístico en el que las mujeres se atrevieron a expresarse con gran libertad.
January 12, 2021
This is the who's who of Surrealist sexual affairs. The introduction sets up the author (and painter) up as a terrible bore who doesn't care that much about the art as much as who they were connected to (Eileen Agar was taught by a friend of Rodin- the friend doesn't matter just the connection.) The book reads as mini-essays more than chapters and would've been strengthened by having several contributors. Desmond Morris still has a lot of bitter energy directed at Andre Breton, causing Breton's essay to drag with character assaults repeated from the introduction.
I'm reading the essay I borrowed the book for and returning it, despite knowing that I'll learn more about Meret Oppenheim from her Wikipedia page than whatever Morris has to say about her sex life.
I'm reading the essay I borrowed the book for and returning it, despite knowing that I'll learn more about Meret Oppenheim from her Wikipedia page than whatever Morris has to say about her sex life.
October 13, 2020
Narýchlo: Dočìtané. Veľký čitateľský zážitok. Dávno som nečítal krajšiu a lepšiu knihu o umení. Desmond Morris, Životy surrealistov. Autor je zoológ (!) a tiež surrealista.
Nepodstatný citát: "Peggy, která se vsadila se svou sestrou Hazel, kdo z nich první dostane do postele tisíc mužů, ..."
Milovníci a milovníčky obrazov určite vedia, o akú Peggy ide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuan4...
Nepodstatný citát: "Peggy, která se vsadila se svou sestrou Hazel, kdo z nich první dostane do postele tisíc mužů, ..."
Milovníci a milovníčky obrazov určite vedia, o akú Peggy ide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuan4...
July 3, 2021
I knew about Desmond Morris's zoological/anthropological career [He wrote the bestselling "Naked Ape" in 1967] but I did not previously know that he is also a surrealist painter and was a part of the community of original surrealists in the 1940s.
As some reviewers mentioned, this book could almost have been titled "The Sex Lives of the Surrealists" because Morris seems oddly drawn to share that aspect of their lives. But, there is also plenty of other information in Morris's biographical essays on these pioneering artists to make readers feel that they really know each one of them.
Among the personal anecdotes of well-known legends like Dalí, Picasso, Magritte, Miró, Bacon, and Duchamp is a more thorough picture of the world in the 1930s and 1940s, a time between world wars. The larger story of this book is how unnerving and terrifying the rise of fascism and the approach of WWII was to everyone, specifically this core group of artists. After that war, their lives were upended and things were never the same.
I was also delighted to learn a bit about artists I was not familiar with such as Yves Tanguy, Dorothea Tanning, Roland Penrose, Conroy Maddox, and many others. Morris does well at personalizing their stories and making us feel like we know who they were better.
As some reviewers mentioned, this book could almost have been titled "The Sex Lives of the Surrealists" because Morris seems oddly drawn to share that aspect of their lives. But, there is also plenty of other information in Morris's biographical essays on these pioneering artists to make readers feel that they really know each one of them.
Among the personal anecdotes of well-known legends like Dalí, Picasso, Magritte, Miró, Bacon, and Duchamp is a more thorough picture of the world in the 1930s and 1940s, a time between world wars. The larger story of this book is how unnerving and terrifying the rise of fascism and the approach of WWII was to everyone, specifically this core group of artists. After that war, their lives were upended and things were never the same.
I was also delighted to learn a bit about artists I was not familiar with such as Yves Tanguy, Dorothea Tanning, Roland Penrose, Conroy Maddox, and many others. Morris does well at personalizing their stories and making us feel like we know who they were better.
February 12, 2023
Useful short biographies of a number of the surrealists, 32 in all, by an author who was one of them, albeit a late comer. Desmond Morris shows us that some very famous artists, including Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Picasso, who are not generally described as surrealists were nonetheless closely engaged in surrealism.
Morris was part of the British tranche of surrealism and personally knew many of those he writes about, giving the writing sometimes a humorous, gossipy quality. Some people have criticised this slightly irreverent take but he says himself, in his introduction, that his intention was not to contribute to tomes on Art History, but to tell briefly the human lives of his chosen Surrealist artists, which he does in a readable and entertaining way. I will return to the book more than once, I'm sure.
Just a shame he didn't chose to include a few more of the women involved in the movement. To include Roland Penrose with barely a mention of Lee Miller is impolite and to largely ignore such artists as Toyen, Ithyll Colquhoun, Dora Maar, Remedios Varo, Kay Sage and Claude Cahun - not to menti0n Frida Kahlo, which he doesn't - is almost inexcusable.
Morris was part of the British tranche of surrealism and personally knew many of those he writes about, giving the writing sometimes a humorous, gossipy quality. Some people have criticised this slightly irreverent take but he says himself, in his introduction, that his intention was not to contribute to tomes on Art History, but to tell briefly the human lives of his chosen Surrealist artists, which he does in a readable and entertaining way. I will return to the book more than once, I'm sure.
Just a shame he didn't chose to include a few more of the women involved in the movement. To include Roland Penrose with barely a mention of Lee Miller is impolite and to largely ignore such artists as Toyen, Ithyll Colquhoun, Dora Maar, Remedios Varo, Kay Sage and Claude Cahun - not to menti0n Frida Kahlo, which he doesn't - is almost inexcusable.
March 19, 2020
Non solo Dalì: i surrealisti sono stati moltissimi e sembra che quasi nessuno abbia avuto una vita normale.
Il libro è una sequenza di biografiche, accompagnate da una foto dell'artista e una di una sua opera, ma consiglio di leggerlo con Google sottomano perché, e non capisco la ragione, le opere citate nel testo non sono quelle rappresentate dalle foto. Ok, forse nessuno ha bisogno dell'ennesima riproduzione di Guernica (sì, c'è anche Picasso), ma non tutti i lettori conoscono tutti i capolavori di tutti i personaggi qui raccolti. Wikipedia, e più ancora Google Images, sono il complemento necessario al volume.
Il libro è una sequenza di biografiche, accompagnate da una foto dell'artista e una di una sua opera, ma consiglio di leggerlo con Google sottomano perché, e non capisco la ragione, le opere citate nel testo non sono quelle rappresentate dalle foto. Ok, forse nessuno ha bisogno dell'ennesima riproduzione di Guernica (sì, c'è anche Picasso), ma non tutti i lettori conoscono tutti i capolavori di tutti i personaggi qui raccolti. Wikipedia, e più ancora Google Images, sono il complemento necessario al volume.
June 21, 2020
If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of surrealism then this book isn’t for you. It isn’t intended to be. What it is, is a collection of thumbnail accounts of thirty two of the artists involved with Andre Breton‘s Surrealist group. Each gets about six pages. It’s fun, which is mainly down to the fact that the Surrealists had pretty eventful lives which encompassed a time of two world wars, plenty of alcohol and lots of sex. So much so you do wonder how they found time to paint. Included are anecdotes by the author Desmond Morris, which add interest. A book to dip into or read cover to cover (which I did).
July 24, 2018
Also included pictures of the surrealists and pictures of some of their work that I'd never seen or heard of before. Very cool & educational & entertaining book. I almost went with 4 stars because the book is not long enough. It'd be great if Morris could write a series that covers different surrealists artists. Although it's his familiarity with the surrealism philosophy, as well as his personal interactions with the artists that make the vignettes he provides so compelling. Nevertheless, I'm confident I'd like his take on artists & writers outside of the surrealist movement.
May 11, 2022
Immensely enjoyable portraits of surrealists. They are, by necessity, quick discussions but this makes it a more enjoyable experience - nice, quick, easily digestible vignettes.
Like any other blanket term, it was refreshing to see that the surrealists were not all cut from the same cloth, but were as varied and discordant in their backgrounds, lives and attitudes as the rest of humanity. The one link was their talent.
If you want to see what the people were like, rather than their work, and to cover lots rather then few, you'll be pleased with this.
Highly recommended.
Like any other blanket term, it was refreshing to see that the surrealists were not all cut from the same cloth, but were as varied and discordant in their backgrounds, lives and attitudes as the rest of humanity. The one link was their talent.
If you want to see what the people were like, rather than their work, and to cover lots rather then few, you'll be pleased with this.
Highly recommended.
July 23, 2022
‘The lives of the surrealists’ is a great book and not (only) because an apter title would have been ‘The sex lives of the surrealists’. For anyone interested in artistic and cultural life in especially the 1st half of the 20th century (1924-1969 according to Morris) it is required reading. Desmond Morris mainly known as a biologist is also a (surrealist) painter and has known most of the artists personally. In 34 chapters he tells about the lives of as many painters, sculptors etc. His style is brief, funny and very entertaining, rich with details. Many of the persons described were interlinked with André Breton being at the centre. Breton seems to have been a petty dictator and manipulator. I have to admit some artists I had never heard about before: Leonor Fini, Wilhelm Freddie, Arshile Gorky and a few others. I still find Surrealism a difficult movement to grasp, understand or comprehend. What exactly is Surrealism? Many of the artists described worked in different styles and were certainly not uniform. But they also developed and changed through the years, Picasso being the best example. My favourites? Joan Miro (not a very exciting life compared to most other surrealists), Alberto Giacometti, Man Ray, Francis Bacon, Alexander Calder. Fascinating, highly recommended!
January 15, 2024
A comprehensive overview of a selection of surrealists that serves its purpose as an introduction. The author’s own memories of the artists add an extra, human element to the project that otherwise feels lacking. Although Morris does focus on the sex lives of many of the artists and does acknowledge the rampant misogyny within the cohort, his bias is apparent. Small, snide remarks about mothers and wives in the biographical listings are more pointed than those of the male counterparts. Truthful to his identity as an artists and writer, I guess, but boring in 2024.
August 5, 2022
Absolutely loved this book! Enjoyed it like a tasty food i just take an occasional bite of over time. The format is in line with the kind of books I like - bite-sized stories of different influential or interesting people. And the topic is one of my favorites - the Surrealist art movement in Paris in the 20s and 30s of the last century. And not a surprise that I picked up one of my new favorite reads in my favorite museum in the world's gift shop - Tate Modern in London.
May 11, 2023
Interesting bite-size biographies about both well-known and obscure surrealist artists. Maybe a little too catty and gossipy (the author dislikes Andre Breton, and takes every opportunity for a dig), and some smug “I was a personal friend” asides. Nonetheless, I learned things I didn’t know, and was inspired into further study.
July 6, 2018
If you read books about artists and their work, it is easy to overlook the fact that they live their lives just like anyone else. This book focuses on that showing various artists and their personal trials and tribulations, some which might have been of their own making.
March 24, 2019
4 stelle piene, anche 4 e mezza. Molto gustoso, di ogni surrealista presenta una minibio con vizi e virtù. L'approccio è quello di presentare più le vite che l'arte, che viene trattata solo marginalmente. Grandissimo sfizio, adatto anche ai non addetti ai lavori.
April 10, 2020
One of the best damn art books ever. Fun and factual with the right mix of giving you the theory of the movement, but also the biographies of perhaps art's greatest weirdos. I say that with love because I really enjoyed this edutaining read.
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February 2, 2022One of the best books to read if you're into surrealism. Talks about amazing female artist really impacted the movement. Short biography about artist that contributed to the surrealist movement, mainly in Paris around the 20s before ww2.
February 12, 2024
Written with whit and insight from the author as he was actually a surrealist himself and interacted with the artists in his book. That personal touch makes this book special. Great that you don’t have to read each chapter consecutively and can jump around to your favorite artists if you wish!
August 7, 2025
i really enjoyed this. simply written with engaging stories about a range of artists i have never heard of. it could have been dry. it wasnt. it felt like a small peak into the lives of 30-odd people and it was just thoroughly enjoyable
January 8, 2019
Excellent insight into the way the artist lived.
June 22, 2019
Interesting to read brief "stories" about different artists associated with surrealism. Also, written by one of the last living artists that had a personal connection with some of them.
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