World War 1 And Its Influences On The Arts: Surrealism

The style of the surrealist movement started shortly after the end of the First World War. Surrealism was a response to the disillusionment, trauma, and social upheaval caused by the war, and it sought to explore the irrational, dreamlike, and subconscious aspects of human existence. When it first began, it was a literary movement, but shortly after, it found its most significant expression through visual arts. Sigmund Freud's work on psychoanalysis gained lots of attention during the war, which influenced Surrealist artists. Freud's exploration of dreams, the unconscious, and repressed desires resonated with Surrealists, who were interested in tapping into the hidden depths of the human mind. The surrealism style primarily focuses on psychological states, which usually resemble dreams and fantasies. 

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Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale - Max Earnest 

Created: 1924

Location: The Museum of Modern Art, New York

One of Earnest’s more famous works, Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale, was created during the Surrealism movement and symbolizes an important part of Earnest’s life. In this work, Ernst presents a dreamlike and enigmatic scene where two children, a boy and a girl, appear to be confronted or "threatened" by a nightingale, which is a small songbird. We can see a red wooden gate in the painting that opens onto a painted scene with an evening blue sky. The nightingale is made up of various colors in its surroundings, which is supposed to mask the darker intentions lurking beneath its innocent appearance. This is a typical aspect of surrealist work. Things weren’t always what they seemed.  Ernst's work often explored psychological tension, transformation, and the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary. I think  Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale is an excellent example of his Surrealist approach. He invites the viewer to delve into the depths of their subconscious and interpret the painting's meaning in their own way. Ernst uses juxtapositions of disparate elements to create a sense of dislocation and unease. The color palette is subdued, with muted and earthy tones, contributing to the mysterious and dreamlike quality of the scene. The figures in the painting are depicted with distorted and abstract forms, giving them a sense of unease and surrealism.

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Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Waking - Salvador Dalí

Created: 1944

Location: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Now, you can't talk about the surrealist movement without mentioning Salvador Dalí. He was the most famous artist of this movement and created many famous surrealist pieces that gained much recognition. This particular piece is my favorite, mainly because I think it truly captures the unorthodox nature of surrealism. It looks like something born from a strange dream, one that has you waking up the following day thinking aloud, “What the heck did I just dream about?”. The woman in this piece is Dalí’s wife, Gala, who is his muse. She floats above a rock in what is described as “a tranquil marine landscape.” Looking closely, you can see a pomegranate and a bee floating beside her. In the background, we see a larger pomegranate that has exploded, shooting out a fish with two tigers erupting from its mouth moments before the tigers wake Gala from her sleep. The painting captures the essence of a dream with a sense of unreality, distortion, and fluidity. The scene is not bound by the laws of physics or logic, evoking the strange and disconnected nature of dreams. The color palette is vibrant and intense, with strong contrasts. The bright reds, blues, and yellows create a visually striking and emotionally charged composition.

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The Son Of Man - René Magritte

Created: 1964 

Location: Private Collection

Magritte was a Belgian surrealist painter, and this particular piece was painted as a self-portrait. We can see that the man's face is hidden behind an apple, but we can just barely see his eyes. If you didn’t notice the first time you looked at it, it appears the man's left arm is bent backward at the elbow. The apple in "The Son of Man" has various symbolic interpretations. It can represent temptation, self-concealment, and the mysteries of the subconscious. Magritte often used everyday objects as symbols in his works. The idea behind the portrait was that everything we see hides another thing, and we often want to see what is hidden by the things we see. There are intense feelings and conflicts between the things we can see and the things we can't see in the visible things. From what I take from this piece, there is always something we, as humans, can not see clearly, even when we might be looking at it head-on. There is always the bigger picture or the more minor, minuscule details that we overlook. When we become aware of the hidden things we can't seem to see, this can spark intense emotions, good and bad. I enjoy the mysteriousness of the painting and the almost eerieness it has to it. Magritte puts a lot of detail into his work, which I also like in this piece. 

The senselessness and absurdity of the war led to a rejection of traditional logic and a desire to disrupt conventional narratives. Surrealist artists embraced the absurd, created irrational juxtapositions, and challenged the boundaries of reality, all of which can be seen in these works. The paintings embrace mystery and ambiguity. The emotional intensity in these works, whether it's the fear and fascination in Ernst's painting, the dreamlike quality in Dalí's work, or the paradoxical elements in Magritte's piece, reflects the psychological depth brought about by the war and the need to explore the human condition.

Sources:

có, Paloma . “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking.” Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, 21 Nov. 2019, www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/dali-salvador/dream-caused-flight-bee-around-pomegranate-second-waking.

“Eyeconart:Modern Surrealism.” Robinurton.com, robinurton.com/history/surrealism.htm. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale (1924) by Max Ernst – Artchive. www.artchive.com/artwork/two-children-are-threatened-by-a-nightingale-1924-by-max-ernst/.

Wikipedia Contributors. “The Son of Man.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Son_of_Man.

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