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The Surrealists
The Surrealists created dreamlike or seemingly insane works of art.

The Surrealists


In KS3 children will learn how to critically appraise historical works of art, as well as understand the influence ancient movements have had on art today.

Surrealism was possibly the defining art movement to take place between the two world wars. It was started by Andre Breton in around 1920 and came as a direct result of the influence of Dadaism. Dadaism was a form of anti-art that deliberately defied reason. Dadaism was also aimed at negative form and subject, whereas the surrealist movement had as their main aim to be a more positive expressive art form.

Initially Surrealism consisted of a series of journals and poetry but went on to include may different art forms including poetry and literature. It attempted to throw off the confinements of contemporary culture and looked to shock and rebuke the conventional notions of reality. The unconscious played a large role in surrealist works and one of the main and recurring themes was to try to create images of such unconscious worlds and fuel them with the animal desire that lay in each of us.

What happened to Surrealism in the 1930s?
The infighting within the movement caused its collapse
The movement moved back towards a more traditional way of working
Surrealism reached a larger public audience than ever before
Most artists left the movement to pursue other careers
A British surrealist group emerged in Britain and Surrealist leaders saw this era as the pinnacle of the movement
Chirico's famous work, 'Le Mauvais Génie d’un Roi' is translated as what?
The Badness of Royalty
The Wicked Behaviour of a Prince
The Rudeness of the Queen
The Evil Genius of a King
Chirico founded the 'scuola metafisica' art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists
What key event happened to Surrealism in 1924
The Surrealists looked to the Romantics for inspiration
The Surrealists adopted a more regulated style
The Surrealist movement split into two factions
The Surrealists held a special exhibition
The two leaders of the factions clashed regularly, sometimes physically fighting over their right to be called Surrealists
A key artist in the movement, Salvador Dali, is best known for his work showing melting clocks in a surreal landscape. What is it called?
The Repetition of Time
The Unwinding of Clocks
The Occurrence of Thought
The Persistence of Memory
Another key Surrealist, Joan Miró, famously declared what?
A destruction of the establishment
A ruination of the academy
An overthrowing of the rule makers
An assassination of painting
He favoured a completely renegade style, which did not adhere to any conventions of the time
Surrealist René Magritte challenged conceptions of reality. What was the subject of his painting entitled 'This is not a pipe'?
A cigarette
A matchstick
An ashtray
A pipe
He wanted people to look at his work and think, 'What does that mean?'
A huge exhibition of Surrealism was held in Paris in 1938. What were visitors to the exhibition given?
A torch
A raincoat
A pocket watch
A paint brush
Which aspect of Sigmund Freud's work inspired the Surrealists?
Dream analysis
Word games
Ink blot interpretation
Grief therapy
When and how was the term 'Surrealism' first used?
In 1927, to describe a painting
In 1903, in the preface to a play
In 1909, as the name of an exhibition
In 1901, as the title of a book
'The Breasts of Tiresias' (Les mamelles de Tirésias) is a surrealist play by Guillaume Apollinaire. He used the term in his preface to the play
When did Surrealism begin?
The 1940s
The 1850s
The 1980s
The 1920s
Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, creating strange and unnerving worlds as they attempted to recreate the subconscious
Author:  Angela Smith

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