Lizzie+Rumpz

//**Part A: Plan of Investigation**//

The French Surrealist Movement, which was spawned from Freudian theories and the previous Dada movement, was based on being the opposite of normalcy and breaking away all artistic barriers. This type of revolution, which began in the early 1920s, close to the end of World War I, was caused by the desire for social change, where the role of power is transferred from the clutches of the capitalist class to the hands of the working class population. The purpose of this investigation is to determine why and how the Surrealists artists expressed their rebellious anger in forms of visual art and written work.
 * How did World War I produce radical tendencies in the French Surrealist arts movement?**

Word Count: 117

//**Part B: Summary of Evidence**//

Major Influences: Prominent Artists/Leaders:
 * Sigmund Freud: Freud (1856-1939), was a psychoanalytic theorist with radical and odd theories, such as the Oedipus Complex and the study of the unconscious mind[i]. Freud also believed in his dream theory, where he “analyze[d] dreams in order to understand aspects of personality as they related to pathology.”[ii] To him, nothing happened without reason. This strongly influenced Salvador Dali, a Surrealist painter, with “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening” (1944), “express[ing] for the first time in images Freud’s discovery of the typical dream with a lengthy narrative, the consequence of the instantaneousness of a chance event which causes the sleeper to wake up.”[iii]
 * Dadaism: Dadaism, circa 1913, was “spontaneous…unexpected…outrageous..[and] irrational,”[iv] which can also relate to Surrealism. Much like Surrealism, Dadaism grew in between the wars in the 20th century, “preoccupied with irrationalism”[v] and included influences from Freud and his theories. Both movements denoted war and its seemingly senseless purpose, focusing more on the art of “exploring and liberating the creative powers of the unconscious mind.”[vi] While the Dadaist art movement had similar traits, Surrealism took Dadaism to a higher level of abstraction.
 * World War I: After the suffering of World War I, “artists and intellectuals were looking for an escape against the harshness of reality.”[vii] Instead of the terrors and annoyance of war, Surrealist artists sought to find an outlet to express their anger and fear. With the ability to draw the public in with their distorted literature and visual artistry, Surrealist artists were able to show how they viewed the world and society.
 * Arthur Rimbaud: Rimbaud was a young poet who inspired and confused many people of the 19th century. His poems were revolutionary and opposed the majority of artists and artistic works in his century. His influential poems and literature helped inspire the Surrealist artists due to his different perspective on literature and life.
 * Andre Breton – Andre Breton was the foremost founder of the Surrealist art movement. Breton was mostly influenced by Dadaism, Dadaist artists and his friends, such as Arthur Rimbaud, Louis Aragon and Antonin Artaud. He was a contributing member of the Dada movement and “was known for his ability to unite disparate artists through printed matter and curatorial pursuits,”[viii] which was a motivator to start the Surrealist art movement. His beliefs were based on anti-war protest, “creating works to demonstrate their outrage at the atrocities happening in Europe.”[ix]
 * Pablo Picasso - Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest painters in the 20th century, expressed his ideas with visual artwork, such as painting. His paintings, with many including portraits, portrayed subjects with disproportionate eyes, noses, mouths, and asymmetrical faces. He uses proportion to stylize and tell his story through his art. His revolutionary ideas contributed to the artistic movement by producing pieces such as Guernica (1937) which illustrated the German bombings of innocent civilians in the Spanish Civil War,[x] portraying war as barbaric and reveals the tragedies, becoming an anti-war symbol embracing peace.
 * Salvador Dali - Although Salvador Dali was expelled by Andre Breton in 1937, he still had immense influence on the Surrealist movement. Dali was a very aggressive man - he took pleasure in sadist and masochist acts, such as "throwing himself down stairs." [xi] This was shown through his art, with paintings such as containing images involving flesh, teeth, double imagery, impotence, and so on. Dali broke away from the movement due to his expulsion - he was known to support Adolf Hitler and having a "reactionary nature," [xi] therefore going against Surrealist's ideology.
 * Max Ernst

Word Count: 509
 * Part C: Evaluation of Sources**


 * Crispolti, Enrico. //Ernst, Miró, and the Surrealists.// New York: McCall Pub., 1970. Print.**

This book was beneficial in researching the history of this particular art movement and in viewing and analyzing the art of some of the most famous artists. Many viewed this movement as “open[ing] windows on a new view of the world” (16) due to the radical tendencies produced from this era. This book guided through influences, both on who inspired them and who they, in turn, influenced later in life. It also showed how the artists evolved, showing past history, and the impact it had on other foreign countries. The over-arching goal of the book was to supply information about the what, how, why, when and and where of the Surrealist art movement. Along with valuable information containing the history and characteristics of the Surrealist art movement, it also includes pages and pages of paintings and artwork from the movement by notable artists such as Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst. It also contains mini biographies of the wide range of artists included in this movement, like Andre Breton, the founder of the movement. Being able to view the paintings is a more accurate version to judge the character of their art. There’s also a more clear understanding on what motivates their art and, by viewing many different types of artwork, trends appear after viewing several, radical views such as sex, drugs, and fantasy. Although this source was very useful, testimonies and quotes directly from the artists of the movement would have been helpful while trying to understand their motives and artistic brains.


 * "The Art Story: Modern Art Movements, Artists, Ideas and Topics." //The Art Story: Modern Art Movements, Artists, Ideas and Topics//. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. .**

This article is from a website entitled [|www.theartstory.org], specializing in information about art movements, artists, theory, and the progression of art in the world. The website contains information from contributors who have attended colleges such as Columbia University and Syracuse University. This particular article’s purpose is to quickly inform and to use essential details to lay the groundwork of what, when, and why the Surrealist Movement was and how it started. Inspirations, among other things, spurred from Freudian beliefs of the unconscious mind and other theories of Freud. Another motivation from the movement was a non-violent protest to the actions of war and wanted to form a united group who had the same radical feelings without any need of suppressing them. In order to avoid suppression of the mind and escape the dangers and fears of war, they decided to pour their frightened and angry thoughts in art, such as poems, short stories, and paintings. These artistic means inspired many other artists and the group soon gathered more attention and more “members.” This article sectioned away different topics and interests of the Surrealist group nicely, and organized in such a way that was easy to locate information and provided information on how the War was perceived in France, at least for the Surrealist men. Another aspect of the Surrealists was how they viewed women and what role they played in the artistic movement. Most women had radical tendencies such as cross-dressing and depicted themselves like “animals and mystical creatures,” something out of the norm in 1920s France. It included essential and precise information on who was involved in the movement and how it became a united group. Although this article kept mentioning how inspired they were by Freudian theory of the sub-conscious mind, further explanation of how and why they were compelled by such theories was left out, and I believe that psychology was an essential aspects of how the Surrealist artists thought and what many of their beliefs were inspired by.

Word Count: 622

For many artists in the twentieth century, France was a potentially rough and frustrating atmosphere to live in. In order to deal with inner and political frustrations, artists such as Andre Breton, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso expressed their anger throughout various styles of artistry. Their biggest frustration was the ever-present prominence of the First World War. The French Surrealist artists desired change - specifically, changes in the "social ladder." Members of society known as "capitalists" annoyed Surrealist artists, with hypocrisy and cynicism overbearing the pros of capitalism. Both capitalism and the First World War created a challenge for the Surrealists. They took this obstacle and used art and other artistic outlets to displace their anger and annoyance.
 * Part D: Analysis**

With capitalism and war propaganda surrounding them, the Surrealists faced a challenge many other people around the world had to coup with. The War caused much stress for all, but this was an added strain on artists. With money tight and the overall happiness of the countries low, it was hard for Surrealists to operate and maintain an artistic job. This caused a financial strain for the artists, leading to lower happiness levels and limiting resources for them. The founder of Surrealism, Andre Breton, founded the artistic movement to release the stress and anger of their lives into a better medium - art. Connecting with artists with similar tastes and values was the next hurdle needed to surpass. After surveying the artwork of Surrealists, there are many correlations present with Dadaist themes and Freudian theories. Their art was inspired by their experiences with the world and how it had treated them.

While the Surrealist artists were first and foremost inspired by **their** troublesome society around them, they were also greatly inspired by Sigmund Freud and his psychological thoughts and theories. Two ideas that interested many Surrealist artists **was** a.) dream interpretation and how it interpreted a person's aspirations and inner feelings and b.) theories such as the Oedipus Complex and other similar ideas. Artists such as Salvador Dali interpreted Freudian ideas into drawn art, such as his painting “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening” (1944), Many of Sigmund Freud's theories were strange, twisted, and different - which can also be three adjectives that describe Surrealist art movement. For example, Freud believed in provocative and unconventional theories, such as the theory that young male babies are jealous of the father and are sexually attracted to the mother, and vice versa for female babies. Although this is an awkward theory, the same mind-bending principle went for Surrealist art work. This is why Freudian theories connect so well with Surrealism and why many artists could understand Sigmund Freud and his psychological theories.

A similar movement that occurred before the Surrealist Movement was the Dadaist art movement, including artists such as Hugo Ball and Max Ernst. This particular movement inspired the Surrealist Movement with its quite large similarities in artistic and political notions. Both art movements focused on their hatred and annoyance with war. War, to them, was useless and occupied precious time [iv]. They were both influenced by Freudian and psychological theories, believing the unconscious mind to be a precious and useful tool in understanding people and art. Both artistic movements were sparked by revolution, hate, wars - and by the need to pour emotion into a body of work. The ability to rid themselves of their anger and stress was a noncombative and "peaceful" way to handle topics such as war. Their biggest similarity was being able to uphold the ability to be different from what the past has given the world. Dadaists and Surrealists alike yearned to wipe away the overbearing, average world and break the boundaries of art. Surrealism and Dadaism did have their differences - for instance, Surrealism was more focused on exploring the unconscious and "free association" (it was mostly centered around psychological ideas),[viii] while Dadaism centered more on exposing the banality of the common world and ridiculing the weaknesses.

Word Count: 669


 * Part E: Conclusion**

The Surrealist art movement stripped away many borders, both artistic and political. They managed to complete their goal to spark controversy and make a stand for themselves and their art. Overall, the Surrealist artists were able to maintain sanity and the ability to function in 20th century society by expressing their angry thoughts through art and literature. Surrealist artists frustration was mainly caused by the disasters and tribulations World War I has caused. Although other factors influenced the artists, such as past artistic movements (Dadaism) and other artistic leaders, the war was the main cause of Surrealist artist's strife. While the war and it's effects were hurtful, it also produced an influential and famous artistic movement that is still popular in the contemporary world.

Word Count: 124

[i] " Sigmund Freud." //My Webspace Files//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . [ii] "Dream Moods: Dream Theories: Sigmund Freud." //An Online Guide To Dream Interpretation//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.. [iii] "Freud’s Influence on Dali’s Surreal Dream Painting." //The Official Blog of Park West Gallery//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . [iv] "Roland Collection - Dada and Surrealism." //Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . [v] Ibid. [vi] "Mark Harden's Artchive: "Dada and Surrealism"" //Mark Harden's Artchive//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . [vii] "Surrealism and How It Is Used Today." //1stwebdesigner â// //“ //// Graphic and Web Design Blog //. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. . [viii] “Surrealism .” //The Art Story//. The Art Story Foundation, 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. < [] ‌ movement-surrealism.htm> [ix] Ibid. [x] "Pablo Picasso." //Biography, Paintings, and Quotes//. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . [xi] "Salvador Dali." //The Surrealists Website//. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. .

Lizzie Rumpz March 2, 2012

**__Annotated Bibliography__**


 * __Research Question:__** How did World War I produce radical tendencies in the French Surrealist arts movement?

“Surrealism .” //The Art Story//. The Art Story Foundation, 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. < [] ‌ movement-surrealism.htm>. This article is from a website run by accomplished contributing artists, historians and experts of the New York area. Due to their collegiate backgrounds and expansive knowledge of art history, articles contain useful pictures, information and biographies on the artists of the Surrealist era. The article quickly informs and uses essential details to lay the groundwork of what, when, and why the Surrealist movement occurred. It describes the history of World War I and why these artists in particular disliked war-type ideals and why they chose to rebel over such events. It also provides much detail on the psychological influences and thoughts inspired by Sigmund Freud.

Crispolti, Enrico. //Ernst, Miró, and the Surrealists.// New York: McCall Pub., 1970. Print. This book was beneficial in researching the history of this particular art movement and in viewing and analyzing the art of some of the most famous artists. Many viewed this movement as “open[ing] windows on a new view of the world” (16) due to the radical tendencies produced from this era. This book guided through influences, both on who inspired them and who they, in turn, influenced later in life. It also showed how the artists evolved, showing past history, and the impact it had on other foreign countries. The over-arching goal of the book was to supply information about the what, how, why, when and and where of the Surrealist art movement. Along with valuable information containing the history and characteristics of the Surrealist art movement, it also includes pages and pages of paintings and artwork from the movement by notable artists such as Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst. It also contains mini biographies of the wide range of artists included in this movement, like Andre Breton, the founder of the movement. Being able to view the paintings is a more accurate version to judge the character of their art. There’s also a more clear understanding on what motivates their art and, by viewing many different types of artwork, trends appear after viewing several, radical views such as sex, drugs, and fantasy. Although this source was very useful, testimonies and quotes directly from the artists of the movement would have been helpful while trying to understand their motives and artistic brains.

Alexandrian, Sarane. //Surrealist Art//. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Print.

This book not only included information, but also specific pieces of art – art that was done by the Surrealist artists and art done by artists that influenced the Surrealist era, such as the Dada movement. It explained the paintings and //why// they were considered “Surrealist,” because analyzing art, especially the surrealist type, can be confusing and challenging. The book was sectioned into different portions that aided in finding out the revolutionary aspects of the artistic movement, such as Chapter 2, “Anti-Art,” and Chapter 5, “Towards a Revolutionary Art,” among others. It made it easier to peruse the book for essential information. Although this has beneficial information for this investigation, it also focused a lot on how other foreign countries contributed to the characteristics of the movement, which doesn’t add to the investigation.

Brandon, Ruth. //Surreal Lives: The Surrealists, 1917-1945//. New York: Grove, 1999. Print.

This book was the most helpful in research, including information on how the Surrealist art originated and how it thrived in society. It also included the central purpose of Surrealist art and how their art was formed. This book included biographies of the artists and what kind of people they were. Knowing what kind of character and what kind of art they created was helpful in figuring out the Surrealist movement and what kind of traits it included. Although this book was informative on the how and why of the Surrealist movement, it included portions of writing in French and other confusing language that was tough to figure out, even with background context.

Lizzie Rumpz January 20, 2012 Hinze/8 OPLV #1 **__OPLV #1__**


 * __MLA:__** “Surrealism .” //The Art Story// . The Art Story Foundation, 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. . This article is from a website run by accomplished contributing artists, historians and experts of the New York area. Due to their collegiate backgrounds and expansive knowledge of art history, articles contain useful pictures, information and biographies on the artists of the Surrealist era. The article quickly informs and uses essential details to lay the groundwork of what, when, and why the Surrealist movement occurred. It describes the history of World War I and why these artists in particular disliked war-type ideals and why they chose to rebel over such events. It also provides much detail on the psychological influences and thoughts inspired by Sigmund Freud.


 * __Origin:__** This article is from a website entitled [|www.theartstory.org], specializing in information about art movements, artists, theory, and the progression of art in the world. The website contains information from contributors who have attended colleges such as Columbia University and Syracuse University.
 * __Purpose:__** This particular article’s purpose is to quickly inform and to use essential details to lay the groundwork of what, when, and why the Surrealist Movement was and how it started. Inspirations, among other things, spurred from Freudian beliefs of the unconscious mind and other theories of Freud. Another motivation from the movement was a non-violent protest to the actions of war and wanted to form a united group who had the same radical feelings without any need of suppressing them. In order to avoid suppression of the mind and escape the dangers and fears of war, they decided to pour their frightened and angry thoughts in art, such as poems, short stories, and paintings. These artistic means inspired many other artists and the group soon gathered more attention and more “members.”


 * __Value:__** This article sectioned away different topics and interests of the Surrealist group nicely, and organized in such a way that was easy to locate information and provided information on how the War was perceived in France, at least for the Surrealist men. Another aspect of the Surrealists was how they viewed women and what role they played in the artistic movement. Most women had radical tendencies such as cross-dressing and depicted themselves like “animals and mystical creatures,” something out of the norm in 1920s France. It included essential and precise information on who was involved in the movement and how it became a united group.


 * __Limitations:__** Although this article kept mentioning how inspired they were by Freudian theory of the sub-conscious mind, further explanation of how and why they were compelled by such theories was left out, and I believe that psychology was an essential aspects of how the Surrealist artists thought and what many of their beliefs were inspired by.

Lizzie Rumpz February 1, 2012 Hinze/8 OPLV #2

**__OPLV #2__**


 * __Origin (MLA Citation):__** Crispolti, Enrico. //Ernst, Miró, and the Surrealists.// New York: McCall Pub., 1970. Print.


 * __Purpose:__** This book was beneficial in researching the history of this particular art movement and in viewing and analyzing the art of some of the most famous artists. Many viewed this movement as “open[ing] windows on a new view of the world” (16) due to the radical tendencies produced from this era. This book guided through influences, both on who inspired them and who they, in turn, influenced later in life. It also showed how the artists evolved, showing past history, and the impact it had on other foreign countries. The over-arching goal of the book was to supply information about the what, how, why, when and and where of the Surrealist art movement.


 * __Value:__** Along with valuable information containing the history and characteristics of the Surrealist art movement, it also includes pages and pages of paintings and artwork from the movement by notable artists such as Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst. It also contains mini biographies of the wide range of artists included in this movement, like Andre Breton, the founder of the movement. Being able to view the paintings is a more accurate version to judge the character of their art. There’s also a more clear understanding on what motivates their art and, by viewing many different types of artwork, trends appear after viewing several, radical views such as sex, drugs, and fantasy.


 * __Limitations:__** Although this source was very useful, testimonies and quotes directly from the artists of the movement would have been helpful while trying to understand their motives and artistic brains.

Lizzie Rumpz Hinze/8 OPLV #3

**__OPLV #3__**
 * __Origin (MLA Citation):__** Alexandrian, Sarane. //Surrealist Art//. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Print.


 * __Purpose:__** This book not only included information, but also specific pieces of art – art that was done by the Surrealist artists and art done by artists that influenced the Surrealist era, such as the Dada movement. It explained the paintings and //why// they were considered “Surrealist,” because analyzing art, especially the surrealist type, can be confusing and challenging.


 * __Value:__** The book was sectioned into different portions that aided in finding out the revolutionary aspects of the artistic movement, such as Chapter 2, “Anti-Art,” and Chapter 5, “Towards a Revolutionary Art,” among others. It made it easier to peruse the book for essential information.


 * __Limitations:__** Although this has beneficial information for this investigation, it also focused a lot on how other foreign countries contributed to the characteristics of the movement, which doesn’t add to the investigation.

Lizzie Rumpz Hinze/8 OPLV #4 **__OPLV #4__**


 * __Origin (MLA Citation):__** Brandon, Ruth. //Surreal Lives: The Surrealists, 1917-1945//. New York: Grove, 1999. Print.


 * __Purpose:__** This book was the most helpful in research, including information on how the Surrealist art originated and how it thrived in society. It also included the central purpose of Surrealist art and how their art was formed.


 * __Value:__** This book included biographies of the artists and what kind of people they were. Knowing what kind of character and what kind of art they created was helpful in figuring out the Surrealist movement and what kind of traits it included.


 * __Limitations:__** Although this book was informative on the how and why of the Surrealist movement, it included portions of writing in French and other confusing language that was tough to figure out, even with background context.