Surrealism

In the context of the avant-gardes of the 1920s, surrealism emerged, an artistic and literary movement that expressed the thoughts of the unconscious. Strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic theories of psychologist Sigmund Freud, in 1924, André Breton wrote the Surrealist Manifesto. The irrational, dreams and madness become the main theme of surrealist artistic production. Surrealist artists believed that art could reveal profound truths about the human mind and reality, and that these truths were beyond rational understanding. In their works they explored the unconscious and subjectivity through various techniques such as collage. In the international context, this movement is marked by artists such as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Joan Miró and Max Ernst. These artists created works that were both surprising and strange, combining elements of reality with dreamlike and fantastical images. One of the most famous works of Salvador Dalí is "The Dream" (1931), which shows a dreamlike scene in which several strange objects float in a blue sky. Another important work by Salvador Dalí is "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), which features bizarre clocks hanging in a desolate landscape. Another surrealist who marked this movement was René Magritte, known for his paintings that defy logic and reason, such as "The Betrayal of Images" (1929), which shows a pipe with the inscription "this is not a pipe". In Portugal, the movement follows the artistic aesthetics of Paris, with artists such as Mário Cesariny, Cruzeiro Seixas, Mário-Henrique Leiria, António Maria Lisboa, Mário-Henrique Leiria, Marcelino Vespeira, António Dacosta, among others.