surrealism

Influenced by the theories of the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, the images found in surrealist works are as confusing and startling as those of dreams. Surrealist works can have a realistic, though irrational style, precisely describing dreamlike fantasies, as in the works of René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, and Alfred Pellan. Something all Surrealists have in common is a spontaneous technique, modeled upon the psychotherapeutic procedure of "free association" as a means to eliminate conscious control in order to express the workings of the unconscious mind.
Salvador Dali was a primary member of that surrealist movement and one of the most publicized to date. Despite all that was written by and about him, Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali remained a mystery as a man and as an artist. A blend of reality and fantasy characterized both his personal life and his artwork. Many of Dalí's paintings were influenced and inspired by the landscapes of his youth. Da...