Group 3 Project- Nature Surrealism

Nature Surrealism 

By: Anastasia Lee, Ehtisham Tariq, and Deanna Glogowski

    

   Artists that used Surrealism were Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Leonora Carrington. They each used the surrealism technique and included nature in their self- portraits.

Rene Magritte used Nature Surrealism in his oil painted self-portrait called The Son of Man. He created this oil painting in 1946. 

Salvador Dali used Nature Surrealism in his oil painted self-portrait called Three Sphinxes. He created this oil painting in 1947. 

Leonora Carrington used Nature Surrealism is her oil painted self-portrait The Inn of the Dawn Horse. She created this oil painting in 1937. 

     

   Oil paintings often depict things. There is more to an oil painting than just a technique. It defines an art form. John Berger stated, "The tradition, however, still forms many of our cultural assumptions. It defines what we mean by pictorial likeness. Its norms still affect the way we see such objects as landscape, women, food, dignities, and mythology" (The Ways of Seeing 84).  Cultural assumptions make options for surrealism.  A painted image is two-dimensional, but the potential of illusionism is higher than a sculpture for example.  John Berger stated, "When metaphorical symbols are introduced, their symbolism is usually made unconvincing or unnatural by the unequivocal, static materialism of the painting- method" (The Ways of Seeing 91). When an object is unnatural, surrealism is shown. 

   Surrealism is an art form started by Andre Brenton in the 1920s. "Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film, and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy, and social theory" (Wikipedia).  Surrealism is a cultural movement and is popular in visual artworks. Pertaining to art, artists painted scenes that did not make sense, allowing the unconscious to show. Nature Surrealism is expressed in artwork using a surrealism technique, while including nature. All of these self-portraits show surrealism using nature.