Painting part 3 ( After Ramadan)

Art Movements Part 2

*Surrealism

What is Surrealism?*

*Surrealism is an artistic and literary movement that began in the early 1920s in Europe.
It aimed to unlock the unconscious mind, expressing thoughts, dreams, and emotions in
ways that defy logic and traditional realism.*

• Key idea: Surrealism explores dreams, the irrational, and the subconscious.*

• It grew out of Dadaism (which rejected traditional art forms after WWI) and was
heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis.*

Core Beliefs & Techniques*

Surrealists believed that the rational mind suppressed imagination, so they*

sought to tap into the dream world and unconscious.*

Common techniques included:*

• Automatic drawing (drawing without conscious control)*

• Dream imagery (strange juxtapositions, melting clocks, floating figures)*

• Symbolism (objects that stand in for hidden fears/desires)*

• Unexpected combinations (real + unreal = dreamlike)*

Key Surrealist Artists*

• Salvador Dalí – Famous for The Persistence of Memory (melting clocks)*

• René Magritte – The Son of Man (man with apple covering his face)*

• Max Ernst – Pioneer of frottage and collage

• Joan Miró – Known for colorful biomorphic forms

• André Breton – The leader and theorist of Surrealism, wrote the Surrealist Manifesto

Salvador Dali: Great Art Explained ( optional )

What Is Surrealism in Art? | Art Movement

*The Persistence of Memory (1931)

The Treachery of Images: Magritte in Paris - France Today
 Max Ernst

Key Distinctions:

• Magical realism keeps a sense of reality, with the magical subtly integrated, often
blending fantasy with the real world.

• Surrealism challenges reality completely, diving into the world of dreams,

fantasies, and the unconscious, often presenting more jarring or bizarre imagery.

Cubism *

*Cubism is an art movement that began in the early 20th century, primarily associated with
artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It broke away from traditional perspectives and
representation in art, emphasizing fragmented and abstracted forms. Instead of depicting
objects from one viewpoint, cubist artworks show them from multiple angles, often
combining geometric shapes and distorted perspectives. *

There are two main types:

 1. Analytic Cubism (1907–1912): Focused on breaking down objects into geometric
forms and showing them from various perspectives, often in muted colors like
browns and grays.

2. Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919): Characterized by the use of collage elements and

brighter colors, focusing on creating more simplified, abstract forms.

*Cubism had a huge influence on modern art, challenging traditional notions of

representation and contributing to the development of many subsequent art movements
like abstract expressionism and futurism.*

Georges Braque
Guernica (1937),

*Key Artists

Pablo Picasso: One of the most influential figures in the development of Cubism, Picasso
co-founded the movement alongside Georges Braque. His work, such as Les Demoiselles
d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), showcases his pioneering use of geometric shapes
and multiple perspectives.*

Georges Braque: A close collaborator of Picasso, Braque helped develop both Analytic
and Synthetic Cubism. His work often involved breaking down forms into fragmented
shapes and exploring abstraction. Key works include Violin and Candlestick (1910).
Pablo Picasso, 1910, Girl with a Mandolin (

Dadaism*
• *dadaism (also known as Dada) was an avant-garde art movement that emerged
during World War I, around 1916, in Zurich, Switzerland. It was a radical and
anti-establishment movement that rejected traditional art standards, logic, and
societal norms. Dada was as much a cultural and political protest as it was an
art form.*

Key Characteristics:

• Anti-art: Dada challenged the definition of art. Anything could be art if

presented in the right context.

• Absurdity & Nonsense: Works often embraced irrationality, humor, and chaos.

• Collage & Assemblage: Artists used found objects, cut-outs, and random
elements.

• Performance & Poetry: Dada wasn’t just visual—it included performance,

sound poetry, and manifestos.
• Rebellion Against War: Born out of disgust with WWI, Dada was deeply anti-war
and anti-bourgeois.

Notable Dada Artists:

• Marcel Duchamp – famous for his readymades like Fountain (a urinal signed “R.
Mutt”).

• Hannah Höch – pioneer of photomontage and feminist art.

• Tristan Tzara – one of the movement’s founders and manifesto writers.

• Man Ray – photographer and experimental artist.

• Jean Arp – known for biomorphic sculptures and abstract collages.

*Legacy: Though short-lived (1916–mid-1920s), Dada had a massive influence

on later movements:

• Surrealism

• Pop Art

• Conceptual Art

• Fluxus

• Even aspects of Punk and Postmodernism*

Key Artists

• Marcel Duchamp: Often regarded as the leader of the Dada movement,

Duchamp challenged the very notion of art itself. His "readymades" like
Fountain and Bicycle Wheel are foundational to Dada and later developments
in conceptual art.

• Hannah Höch: Known for her photomontages, she used collage to critique
gender roles, politics, and the rise of fascism in Europe. Her work, like Cut with
the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in
Germany (1919), was highly political.
 Marcel Duchamp, 1919, L.H.O.O.Q.[39]

Hannah Höch

13 Mind-Blowing Interpretations Of The 'Mona Lisa' Painting

Marcel Duchamp fountain 1917
*Clarity and “All-at-Onceness” in Painting

According to Jacobus & Martin, one of the defining features of

painting is its "all-at-onceness"—the idea that a painting
presents its entire visual content in a single moment. Unlike
film or music, which unfold over time, a painting is all there
from the first glance.*

*Abstract Art

• Example: Echo of a Scream by David Alfaro Siqueiros

o While emotionally powerful, this piece leans

toward abstraction.

o Challenge: Abstract works are sometimes

considered difficult to appreciate because they lack clear subject matter.

o Key Insight: The subject in abstract art is often sensuous—not in the erotic
sense, but in the experience of visual elements like color, texture, shape,
volume, etc.

o Quote: “The subject matter is the sensuous...” – Jacobus & Martin

Representational Art

• Example: Untitled (1943–1948) by Arshile Gorky

o A mix of abstraction and representation, this work still reflects real-world

forms.

o Experience: Though it’s “all there” like an abstract work, it introduces a

weakened “here-now” effect because the viewer processes it more
cognitively.

o Definition: Representational art depicts real-world subjects, such as

people, animals, or landscapes.

o Quote: “The sense of here-now...is somewhat weakened.” – Jacobus &

Martin

o Historical Example: Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci – a pinnacle of

Renaissance representational art, showcasing lifelike detail and emotional
expression.

Realism (Traditional Representational Art)

• Definition: Realism strives to depict subjects truthfully and naturally, without

stylization or fantasy.

• Example: The Stone Breakers (1849) by Gustave Courbet

o Focuses on everyday life and the working class, rendered in a raw, honest
manner.

o Represents a move away from romanticized depictions of reality.