The Freudian Origins of Surrealism

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief
Last Modified: 23:53 PM EDT, 15 August 2011

The surrealist movement is based on psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud‘s theories on free association, dream analysis, and the unconscious.  By tapping into the unconscious and portraying it unfettered through painting and photography, the viewer is afforded the opportunity to live vicariously in the waking dreams of painters such as Rene Margritte, Frida Kahlo, Francis Picabia and Max Ernst.

Some may look at the work of surrealists and conclude that these people must have been mentally unstable.  Quite the contrary, most of these artists refused to subvert their inner realities to the conventions of the epoch in which they were born.

They chose instead to push further into the frontiers of the unconscious by translating the ethereal mysteries of their minds onto canvassed landscapes which continue to fascinate, repulse and intrigue viewers.

Salvador Dalí said it best, “there is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.”

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