Analyze the artistic agenda of the Surrealistsan early 20th-century group of artists who created fantastical, bizarre, and irrational works of art.
The 20th century bore witness to the emergence of a trend towards art that explored the human conditionart that explored human psychology with bizarre, irrational, and nonsensical ideas and images. Such ideas and images are usually associated with our dreams and nightmares (our subconscious experiences). You will write an essay on this trend. To do so, you must follow these criteria:
Focus your attention on the Surrealistsan early 20th-century group of artists who created fantastical, bizarre, and irrational art. You must explain Surrealism’s artistic agenda and pay particular attention to what the Surrealists intended to say with their art. You must also explain why the strange works of art produced by the Surrealists were timelywhat they said about culture and society during the early 20th century. Do not forget to cite specific artists and their works of art. You cannot successfully write about this topic unless you do so.
Clocks melt throughout a scene that include a single y-shaped branch protruding from a box. Also on the box is a closed compact with ants crawling over it. The sea and a rock ridge are shown in the distance. In the foreground is another shape resembling a melt face lying on its side – only the nose and eyelashes are apparent.
Salvador Dal. The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Given anonymously. Acc. n.: 162.1934.
Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
Salvador Dal, Fundaci Gala-Salvador Dal, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2013.
