Surrealism and Freedom

Abstract

THE TUMULTUOUS FIRST QUARTER of the twentieth century produced in bewildering succession nearly all those movements that are collectively known as art-fauvism, primitivism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, neo-classicism, neo-romanticism, purism, vorticism, constructivism, dadaism, surrealism each with its flaming manifesto and restless experimentation. The second quarter of this century, though equally tumultuous, has produced scarce a single new art movement. Most artists of today are developing and modifying the contributions of their revolutionary elders. Of all the isms that were hurled forth in those hectic days, the only one that remains today as a coherent movement is the one that is least coherent in the public mind-surrealism. As with modern art generally, surrealism has its ramifications in psychology, politics, social philosophy, literature and the other arts. Its proponents explain that surrealism is a point of view in all these fields more than it is a movement. And a serious point of view it is, though the immediate precursor of surrealism was a very unserious anti-art movement -dadaism. After World War I, some avant garde artists gathered together and formed the dada movement. Its leaders were Max Ernst, Tristan Tzara, Man Ray, Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. An international movement, its headquarters were New York, Paris and Cologne. Disgusted and disillusioned with the chaos and misery brought on by the war, the dadaists declared their own war against society. In revolting, they repudiated all the conventions that went with that society-tradition, even reason. Their defiance took the form of scandalous exhibitions and exasperating pranks. Meetings were announced at which dada was to be read. The poetry consisted of reading stock market quotations while bells were clanging; or two performing dadaists would shout each other down. Dadaist art exhibits were calculated to shock. Often these meetings and exhibits provoked the enraged spectators to riot, and in more than one case the police had to intervene. All this, of course, was regarded as a complete dada triumph. The dadaists ended by mocking themselves. Any attempt by a more serious-minded dadaist to formulate aims was laughed out of court by the