- one of the major art movements of 20th century
- radical, reactionary, controversial, challenged what constituted as art
- "anti-art" that gave rise to exploration of subconscious mind & other-worldly senses
- explores the absurd, bizarre, imaginary, whimsical, grotesque, etc.
- examination of "the other" challenges idea of abnormality
History
- originated in 1916 as reaction to WWI & coming to a close before end of WWII in 1940
- stressed growing interest in alternate way of living/thinking as a way to counter destruction of war & threat of developing technology
- threatened by Futurism which embraced technology, speed, machines, violence
-Fantastic artists felt robbed of their individuality
-needed to save it through personal interpretations of imagination, emotion, instinct
Fantastic art has 2 unique styles
Dadaism (1916–1923)
- Zurich, Switzerland, reaction to WWI
- artists denied conventions of world, opposed accepted norms
- promoted absurdity, nihilism, irrationality
- called for deliberate chaos & randomness to reflect senselessness of war
- strove to stop violence as well as traditional art/culture through radical creations & behavior
- anti-art: stood against things that were beautiful
- called for rebellion against society's principles which were believed to contribute to the war
- explored the naive or childlike nature of art
Surrealism (1924)
- grew out of the chaos & nihilism of dada --> interest in dream world
- explored realm of imaginary & unreal
- explored states of unconscious mind
- artworks were more positive in content & purpose
- reaction to war: encouraged people to cure themselves by tapping into unconsciousness
- psychoanalysis
- union of conscious & subconscious coexisting
- "pure psychic automatism...an attempt is made to express...the true functioning of thought"
- embraced chance, juxtaposition of ideas, forms, & meanings
Independent Artists did not want to adopt an art movement's goals or affiliations
- portrayed what they found meaningful & important
- inspiration stemmed from imagination, private dreams, memories, experiences
-Henry Rousseau
- inspired by nature & belief in ghosts
- supernatural, haunting, theatrical iconography
-Marc Chagall
- based work on memories of his native village
- paintings were poetic & nostalgic representations of his past
- people/animals defying proportion & gravity
- influenced by expressionist & cubist movements
- refused to analyze meaning of his images, viewed them as presentations of self
-Giorgio de Chirico
- most influence on surrealism
- troubling, bizarre, disturbing imagery
- reflect mood of the time characterized by social, political, economic, industrial change
- metaphysical paintings w symbols of ancient antiquity & modern invention
- revealed a way of creating an alternate world by combining familiar & strange images
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