The British Surrealists

by Desmond Morris

The lives, loves, and works of key British Surrealists revealed by one of the last surviving members of this movement, best-selling author and artist Desmond Morris.  Honored for their idiosyncratic and imaginative works, the surrealists marked a pivotal moment in the history of modern art in Britain― pioneering the Surrealist movement between World War I and II. Many artists banded together to form the British Surrealist Group, while others carved their own, independent paths. Here, best-selling author and surrealist artist Desmond Morris―one of the last surviving members of this important art movement―draws on his personal memories and experiences to present the intriguing life stories, complex love lives, and groundbreaking works of this wild and curious set of artists. From the rebelliousness of Leonora Carrington to the beguiling Eileen Agar and the “brilliant” Ceri Richards, Morris brings his subjects’ triumphs as well as their shortcomings to the fore. Laced with his inimitable wit, and profusely illustrated by images of the artists and their artworks, Morris’s vivid account reflects the movement’s strange, rebellious, and imaginative nature. Featuring thirty- four surrealists―some famous, some now largely forgotten―Morris’s intimate book takes us back in time to a generation that allowed its creative unconscious to drive their passions in both art and life.  107 color illustrations

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Art History

248 pages, Hardcover

Published June 14, 2022

About the author

Desmond 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.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit different from what I expect - not a study of a movement, but a collection of biographies, both personal and stylistic. Morris seems to have known almost all these individuals personally, and the account is quite gossipy, but generally not in an unkind way (Mesens is the exception, but one couldn't write honestly about Mesens without saying a number of unflattering things).

Some artists are practically unknown now - most of them women, unsurprisingly. People I hadn't heard of before reading this: Marion Adnams of Derby (no interest in partaking of the surrealist lifestyle), Grace Pailthorpe (she and partner Rueben Mednikoff were expelled from group membership because they were too interested in psychoanalysis), Edith Rimmington (although I recognized her fascinating painting The Oneiroscopist), Emmy Bridgwater (devoted most of her time to caring for her mother and sister). A large number of the famous artists were from rich families.

Overall quite entertaining.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Call this an exercise in bearing witness, as Morris provides an overview of a constellation of artists that, once you get past Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, you probably haven't heard of. It doesn't hurt that Morris knew a lot of these folks personally, and generally remembers them with affection and sympathy. If you want to point to an overarching trend it's the perversity of having an organization for people who were generally "non-joiners," mostly united by their hatred of the failure of recognized authority.

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of mini-biographies with an appropriate amount of illustrations and photos from someone within this milieu, it was engaging and a worthwhile read.