The major Surrealist painters were Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Pierre Roy, Paul Delvaux, and Joan Miró. Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso are sometimes included on this list but they never officially joined the Surrealist group.

Surrealists—inspired by Sigmund Freud’s theories of dreams and the unconscious—believed insanity was the breaking of the chains of logic, and they represented this idea in their art by creating imagery that was impossible in reality, juxtaposing unlikely forms onto unimaginable landscapes.

The Surrealists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by psychoanalysis, the Surrealists believed the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with taboos.

The main goal for Surrealist artists was to embrace automatism and to release the mind’s imagination and unconscious thoughts, which was interpreted differently by each artist.

#1 Salvador Dalí Known for his eccentric manners, Salvador Dali created the most famous masterpieces of Surrealist art.

1. Salvador Dali, Dream caused by the flight of a bee around a pomegranate a second before awakening, 1944. Although Salvador Dali had a tumultuous relationship with the Surrealist group, the Spanish painter remains one of the most famous Surrealist artists today.

Many artists around the world are influenced by Surrealism styles, ideas & techniques. Surrealism taught the world to see art not merely visually and literally; but to appreciate it in a subconscious level as well. Today, surrealism is a familiar form of art that continues to grow globally.

Surrealism was a cultural movement which developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I and was largely influenced by Dada. The movement is best known for its visual artworks and writings and the juxtaposition of distant realities to activate the unconscious mind through the imagery.

Surrealism was focused on tapping into the unconscious mind to release creativity. Andre Breton wrote about the Surrealist movement in two documents called the Surrealist Manifestos. Surrealistic art is characterized by dream-like visuals, the use of symbolism, and collage images.

The surrealist manifesto was written in 1924 by the original member and leader, Andre Breton . It was the culmination of the writings of the surrealist group and sought to dispel the ‘rationalism’ which brought about the first world war . It really identifies the whole surrealist idea as a movement, with an agenda, rather than just a style of art. Some of Bretons ideas flirted with Socialism, indeed he was part of the French Communist party, although this political link for the surrealist

A Surrealist manifesto was written by Breton and published in 1924 as a booklet (Editions du Sagittaire). The document defines Surrealism as: Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express — verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner — the actual functioning of thought.

Surrealist painting was influenced not only by Dadaism but also by the fantastic and grotesque images of such earlier painters as Hieronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya and of closer contemporaries such as Odilon Redon, Giorgio de Chirico, and Marc Chagall. The practice of Surrealist art strongly emphasized methodological research and experimentation, stressing the work of art as a means for prompting personal psychic investigation and revelation.