Surrealism, was a visual art and literature movement that flourished in Europe between World War I and World War II. Surrealism developed primarily from the earlier Dada movement, which created anti-art works which intentionally defied reason before World War I; but the focus of Surrealism was not on negation but on positive expression. The movement was a response to what its leaders saw as the devastation inflicted by "rationalism," which in the past had dominated European society and politics, resulting in the horrors of the First World War.

According to the movement 's main leader, the poet and theorist André Breton, who published The Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, surrealism was a means of putting together conscious and unconscious worlds of imagination in such a way that the world of dream and illusion can be connected to the daily logical world in "an absolute reality, a surreality."

Heavily drawing on ideas that had been adapted from Sigmund Freud, Breton saw the unconscious as the root of creativity. In terms of accessibility to this ordinarily untapped domain he described genius, which he believed could be achieved by poets and painters alike.

Surrealism expressed itself in the poetry of Breton, Paul Éluard, Pierre Reverdy, and others in a juxtaposition of terms that was surprising because it was dictated not by rational but by psychological–that is, unconscious–processes of thought. But the major achievements of Surrealism have been in the field of painting. Surrealist art was inspired not only by Dadaism but also by the surreal and grotesque images of earlier painters like Hieronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya, as well as similar contemporaries like Odilon Redon, Giorgio de Chirico and Marc Chagall, among others.

Surrealist art practice heavily stressed experimental study and exploration, using art work as a way of stimulating personal psychic analysis and revelation. Nevertheless, Breton had demanded absolute doctrinal allegiance. Therefore, when the Surrealists performed a group show in Paris in 1925, the movement 's past is full of expulsions, defenses and personal attacks. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018)

The Surrealists tried to canalize the unconscious as a means of accessing imagination 's power. The Surrealists, disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and strongly inspired by psychoanalysis, believed that the material mind repressed the imagination 's strength and weighted it down with taboos. They, also inspired by Karl Marx, believed the mind would have the power to expose the inconsistencies in the daily world and spark revolution.

Their reliance on the power of personal imagination placed them in the tradition of Romanticism, but they claimed that discoveries could be made on the street and in daily life, unlike their forebears. Several subsequent movements continued to shape the Surrealist tendency to explore the unconscious mind and their desires in myth and primitivism, and the style remains influential to this today. (The Art Story Contributors, 2011)

For the modern eye art from the distant past can appear unreal. Antique frescoes and medieval triptychs are inhabited by dragons and demons. Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593) used the effects of trompe l'oeil to portray human faces created from fruits , flowers, insects or fish. Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) the Netherlands artist turned barnyard animals and household objects into horrific monsters.

Figure 1  Left: Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1503–1504, by Hieronymus Bosch. Right: Detail from The Great Masturbator, 1929, by Salvador Dalí. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-surrealism-183312

Surrealists of the twentieth century celebrated "The Garden of Earthly Delights," and named their ancestor Bosch. The Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) may have imitated Bosch in his shockingly erotic masterpiece, "The Great Masturbator," by drawing the strange, face-shaped rock formation. In the modern sense, however, the eerie pictures created by Bosch are not surrealist. Bosch's probably aiming at delivering Biblical values rather than exploring the dark corners of his psyche.

Similarly, the delightfully intricate and freakish portraits of Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526–1593) are visual puzzles designed to entertain rather than explore the unconscious. Though they look surreal, early artists' paintings reflected their time's deliberate thinking and conventions. (Craven, 2020)

Another amazing surrealist artist would be Rene Magritte. Magritte 's realistic painting of a simple wooden pipe is now one of the Surrealist movement's most iconic paintings. The inscription "Ceci n'est pas un pump" (this is not a pump) is underneath the plug. Magritte was influenced by philosophical thought, and gave a mystery to the audience. What can be seen is a pipe but the terms contradict this painting 's immediate interpretation. If this is not a funnel, what is it then? Magritte encourages the viewer to understand the relationship between language and artifacts of everyday life, as well as art versus reality. (Wolfe, 2019)

Figure 2 René Magritte, The Treachery of Images, 1928. Retrieved from https://magazine.artland.com/art-movement-surrealism/

A platform that shows off modernised surrealism is Surrealism Today. Surrealism Today is a blog that covers modern and interactive surrealism, fantastic and innovative art in an increasingly diverse art landscape.

Pop Surrealism, also known as the Lowbrow movement, is an art form that emerged in the 1970's in the underground scene of LA. Like other surreal forms of art, lowbrow art strives to reach deep into the unconscious mind and bring our innermost thoughts to life. Our compulsions, hidden memories and more are shown in unusual and absurd ways, no matter how light or obscure. But artists draw inspiration from popular culture within this movement. An artist may draw inspiration from cartoons, street art, various music scenes, comics, pinups, and modern-day brands, among other things, in a pop surrealist collage.

Pop surrealism is about bending traditional art rules — that's why lowbrow artists are trying to make up their own. Some critics turn up their noses at this art movement and even doubt its legitimacy at times. Nevertheless, pop surrealists recognize the importance of stealing elements of pop culture and turning them on their heads to create something original that interacts in an incredibly profound way with viewers.

Artist Lindsey "Linz" Sepe, from San Diego, is known for her otherworldly paintings. The events in her works sound like they're happening on another world, or maybe even an Earth in a different universe. Sepe 's works are far from dull to look at, from skateboarding on Saturn's rings to lounging on the moon to trippy time warps. West-coast influences of beach pop are highly evident in Sepe 's pieces. She also combines retro images of women in bikini-clads, palm trees, antique design and vivid color pops. (SurrealismToday, 2020)

Figure 3 Eden 33 by Lindsey "Linz" Sepe. Retrieved from https://surrealismtoday.com/important-contemporary-pop-surrealist-and-collage-artists/

Surrealism is still highly contagious today and many artists are influenced by the movement. It continues to be popular between artists.

Craven, J., 2020. Surrealism, the Amazing Art of Dreams. [Online]
Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-surrealism-183312
[Accessed 13 08 2020].

SurrealismToday, 2020. IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY POP-SURREALIST AND COLLAGE ARTISTS. [Online]
Available at: https://surrealismtoday.com/important-contemporary-pop-surrealist-and-collage-artists/
[Accessed 14 08 2020].

The Art Story Contributors, 2011. Surrealism Movement Overview and Analysis. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealism/
[Accessed 13 08 2020].

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Surrealism. [Online]
Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Surrealism
[Accessed 13 08 2020].

Wolfe, S., 2019. Art Movement: Surrealism. [Online]
Available at: https://magazine.artland.com/art-movement-surrealism/
[Accessed 13 08 2020].