Art and the Surreal - Essay Example

Surrealism is an art movement that branched along with Dadaism, a similar movement that aimed to move out from the romantic form of art, the latter being more organized, following a set of styles. Surrealism is an expression of contemporary artists of themselves beyond the limitations of lines, rhymes, and other forms which bound the romantic arts. It is the representation of contrasting objects or ideas which reflects the cry of surrealists against the effects of war. Surrealism then is reminiscent of current events in the making of the work of art, established in Paris as an unyielding concerted effort for freedom of expression (Duiker 83).

One of the most famous surrealists is Salvadore Dali, a Spanish artist who expressed himself by making photographic sketches that presented irrational objects. Swans Reflecting Elephants is one amazing work of Dali that pictures swans swimming on a lake whose reflections in the water appear like elephants. Showing the main features of a surrealist work of art, Dali juxtaposed the beauty and serenity seen in swans with the heavy appearance of the beast of burden, the elephant. Other contrasting images in the painting are the dark, nightmarish images in and around the lake with the use of colors and the bright, cloudless sky behind the lake. This style arouses the imagination of viewers with the artist intentionally making use of the subconscious in the hope of awakening the totality of a person (Duiker 84). The extreme presentations of the expressions of surrealist artists in their artworks intend to shock their viewers into facing the realities of life.

Aside from paintings and sculptures, surreal ideas were also expressed in literary forms. However, though in a different expression, the views are similarly seen in poets’ literary styles. As one of the objectives of surrealism is freedom of expression, literary pieces moved out from the fundamental styles of the romantic age. Counting lines, use if rhyming words, and highly organized thoughts were discarded by surrealists just like in the poem of Robert Desnos entitled Obsession. Its form shows no visual organization because the lines are not equally divided which is one of the characteristics of surrealism, being unique and free of the influence of the romantic age. The poem reflects similar points in the work of Dali like the juxtaposition of the contrasting elements. ‘But your hair is more finely fixed than the clouds with the wind’ is a line that would show this characteristic which really captures the imagination of the reader, think more deeply about it and analyze it before one could truly picture the author’s thoughts. Clouds in the wind are not fixed while hair could be unchanging for a moment with the use of pins and other materials yet the author says otherwise. Another contrasting feature would be in the line, ‘the anthracite falls in flakes on the town’. It is widely known that snowflakes are white but marking the difference in his poem, Desnos used anthracite to show contrast.

Whatever kind of expression artists use; their common cause always pictures the concerted objective they hold in the things they do. Though many critics opposed the movement, the cry in the heart of the artists did not die instead; such opposition drove them to unite and hand in hand reached their goal amidst hostilities. Probably what made surrealism survive to the modern time is this fighting spirit in the artists who fought for the expression of themselves in the only way that they knew would bring them satisfaction.