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Surrealist art was a style that used images of the subconscious mind, without any intention of making the art logically comprehensible. It was based primarily on positive expression. Surrealist artists tended to avoid logic and reason, logic and reason supposedly hindered creativity. An interesting aspect about surrealist art is that despite its emphasis on the subconscious, the movement includes many works that were well thought out and logically executed, with just the subject matter remaining surreal. Surrealist art was heavily influenced by the psychological studies of Freud and Jung. Surrealism was primarily in Europe. There were many members within the surrealist artist circle. Many members of the dada movement were also attracted to the surrealist movement. There was a great group of surrealist artists from the early 20th century. Some of the members included Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Yves Tanguy, Francis Picabia, and Salvador Dali.
 * Surrealism and Art**

Joan Miró was a surrealist who was influenced by Dada. His artwork looked very child-like, with bright images and colors. Miró practiced automatism, which is automatic drawing and painting, without conscious censorship. Miró definitely had his own distinct painting style, which included very vibrant colors with simple forms. He liked to compare his work to poetry. He also worked with ceramics and sculpting. Joan Miró is quoted as saying, “The spectacle of the sky overwhelms me. I’m overwhelmed when I see, in an immense sky, the crescent of the moon, or the sun. There in my pictures, tiny forms in huge empty spaces. Empty spaces, empty horizons, empty plains-everything which is bare has always greatly impressed me.”Francis Picabia had many things that influenced his surrealist artwork. Cubism, machines, and abstract objects were often used within his pieces. In his pieces he used machines in abstract ways. He took machines and made them abstract, to where they became eroticized objects. Max Ernst was another surrealist artist who was also very much influenced by dada and abstract expressionism. He also collaborated with Miró on pieces of art. He was one of the first artists to use “surrealist” painting techniques. He practiced with decalcomania, which is where engravings and prints can be transferred to other materials, and he also used grattage, as did Miró, where paint is scraped off a canvas. Yves Tanguy was a surrealist who had no formal training as an artist. He joined the surrealist circle and established himself within the group after his very first painting, Les Forains. The painting helped not only establish him as a surrealist, but allowed him to lose his reference to reality. Tanguy’s artwork tended to be possessed by bold color accents and abstract landscapes.

Salvador Dali is usually referred to as the most popular surrealist artist. Surrealism and art cannot be talked about without the mention of Dali. Dali was an artist who dabbled and used many different aspects of art in his pieces. Dali claimed his work reflected images of his subconscious mind. He used poetry, film, symbolism, photography, and sculptures to help create his visions. Many of his pieces reflect dreamlike imagery. Dali enjoyed upsetting people’s “normal” views of reality. He painted regular objects, but painted these objects doing absurd things; floating or shooting the objects across the canvas. Dali may perhaps be responsible for the 20th century idea of an “artist.” It wasn’t only his artwork that was extreme, but also his image and persona. He had an over the top public image, which included wearing clothes that weren’t considered normal at the time and even donning an elaborate long black mustache. Dali’s worked portrayed eye-twisting images and landscapes with symbolic creatures and objects. Elephants, clocks, and eggs were recurring objects in Dali’s work. He was also very much intrigued by DNA and the hypercube. Dali helped associate surrealism with clear dreamlike imagery in his paintings. Dali’s most famous panting is the Persistence of Memory. The painting exhibits a clear dreamlike image of melting clocks scattered across a wide-spread landscape. Dali was a part of the surrealist circle, but often disputed with the other members. Dali often exuberated unusual and grotesque behavior, which he also used in his artwork. Dali clashed with other surrealists because many of them did not approve of content that Dali used in his artwork. Dali was eventually kicked out of the surrealist group, but continued painting throughout his life. Dali still considered himself a surrealist, claiming, “The only difference between me and the Surrealists is that I am a Surrealist.”

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