Tag Archives: Surrealism

September 23

Paul Delvaux: Secret Facets of Surrealism

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On the 23rd of September 1897, Belgian painter and printmaker Paul Delvaux was born in Antheit, Belgium. His original style and the mysterious, almost mystical, themes he employed in his art, place him outside ‘the box’ of any formal art movement. Between 1920 and 1924, Delvaux studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. His […]

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September 12

The Lascaux Cave Paintings: Human Desire into Art

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On the 12th of September 1940, prehistoric paintings were discovered in Lascaux, France on cave walls and ceilings seen today as some 17,000 years old. “The cave was discovered by four teenage boys in September 1940 and was first studied by the French archaeologist Henri Breuil. It consists of a main cavern (some 66 feet [20 metres] […]

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September 08

Body-Consciousness in the Art of Maria Lassnig

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On the 8th of September 1919, artist Maria Lassnig was born in Kappel am Krappfeld, Carinthia, Austria and died in May 2014 aged 94. She is remembered for her daring self-portraits and her theories of ‘body sensation’ and ‘body awareness’ which she explored in her painting. Seeing the innovations of expressionism and surrealism in her […]

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July 29

Luis Buñuel’s ‘Un Chien Andalou: Logic in the Illogical

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On the 29th of July 1983, one of the most outstanding filmmakers of the twentieth century, Luis Buñuel died in Mexico City, Mexico. The Spanish film director has always been associated with the Surrealist movement and such talents as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, René Magritte and Paul Éluard. The 1929 film Un Chien Andalou, produced […]

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June 15

Enrico Baj: Anarchist at Heart

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On the 15th of June 2003, Italian painter, sculptor, writer and anarchist Enrico Baj died in Vergiate, Italy. In his works he focused mainly on politically engaged themes such as the threat of nuclear war or the political situation in Italy under Berlusconi. Baj was one of the founders of the Nuclear Art Movement that […]

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June 10

Psychic Hélène Smith and Surrealist Automatism

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On the 10th of June 1929, famous late-19th century French psychic medium and artist Hélène Smith (née Catherine-Elise Müller) died in Geneva. She was considered “the Muse of Automatic Writing” by the Surrealists, who looked up to her as a conduit to surrealist knowledge. Smith outrageously claimed that she was able to communicate, amongst others, with Martians, Victor Hugo […]

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June 06

Hans Prinzhorn: Curating the Art of Mental Illness

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On the 6th of June 1886, German psychiatrist and art historian  Hans Prinzhorn was born in Hemer, Westphalia. After obtaining a doctorate in art history and philosophy from the University of Vienna, he decided to train in England as a singer, but ended up studying medicine and became an Army surgeon in WWI.  In 1919, he […]

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April 06

Surreal Memories: Leonora Carrington’s Trip Down Below

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On the 6th of April 1917, the Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington was born in Clayton-le-Woods, Lancashire, England. The artist and writer lived most of her adult life in Mexico City, and was one of the last surviving participants of 1930s Surrealism. Carrington had a famous love affair with the German artist Max Ernst whose work […]

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October 28

Controversy in Allegory: Masson and Courbet

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On the 28th of October 1987, the French Surrealist artist André Masson died at the respectable age of 91 in Paris. Important exponent of automatism in the visual arts, Masson worked in a manner equivalent to the literary ‘stream of consciousness’, allowing his hand free rein from conscious thought and premeditated composition. He was said […]

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