Dadaism and Surrealism: Ernst, Dalí, and the Art of Dreams
This paper examines Dadaism and Surrealism as artistic movements born from the trauma of the World Wars, focusing on how Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí used their art to challenge conventional perception. Drawing on André Breton's "Manifesto of Surrealism," the paper explores how Surrealism sought to translate the subconscious dreamscape into visual form. It analyzes Ernst's Aquis Submersus as an early Surrealist work and Dalí's The Persistence of Memory as perhaps the movement's most iconic painting. The paper concludes that both movements used visual art not merely for aesthetic pleasure but as a means of psychological and social provocation.
- Introduction: Art Born from War and Chaos: Historical roots of Dadaism and Surrealism in war
- Max Ernst and the Origins of Surrealism: Ernst's Aquis Submersus analyzed as Surrealist work
- André Breton and the Theory of Surrealist Art: Breton's manifesto defines Surrealism's subconscious purpose
- Salvador Dalí as a Living Icon of Surrealism: Dalí's persona and philosophy as surrealist expression
- The Persistence of Memory and the Fragility of Recollection: Close reading of Dalí's most famous painting
- The Broader Purpose of Dadaism and Surrealism: Both movements as psychological and social provocation
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper anchors its analysis in primary sources — most notably Breton's "Manifesto of Surrealism" — lending authority to its claims about artistic intent rather than relying solely on secondary commentary.
- It moves fluidly between theory and visual analysis, using specific works (Aquis Submersus, The Persistence of Memory) to ground abstract ideas about the subconscious in concrete artistic examples.
- The opening epigraph from Breton sets a thematic tone that resonates throughout, giving the paper a cohesive literary frame without overstating its scope.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of embedded quotation followed by interpretive commentary. Each major quote — from Breton, Dalí, Buñuel, and Reverdy — is introduced in context, reproduced accurately, and then connected back to the paper's central argument about art as psychological and social provocation. This technique shows students how to let sources speak while still maintaining their own analytical voice.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with historical context (World Wars as catalyst), then introduces Max Ernst as a bridge figure between Dadaism and Surrealism. A theoretical middle section draws on Breton's manifesto to define Surrealism's stated purpose. The paper then pivots to Dalí — first as a biographical and cultural icon, then through close reading of The Persistence of Memory. A brief conclusion widens the lens back to the movements' shared philosophical goals. The structure follows a classic funnel pattern: broad context → specific artists → specific works → broader significance.
Introduction: Art Born from War and Chaos
The world of art is always influenced by the historical moment in which a movement originates. The concepts of Dadaism and Surrealism were the direct product of artists witnessing the atrocities of the First World War — horrors that would become even more unpalatable during the Second World War (Hoffman 2–3). The visual presentation of both movements can be initially jarring. Dadaism has been described as "anti-art." Instead of beautiful icons of religious scenes or idealized figures, the paintings of this movement are often images of war and violence rendered in harsh colors to illustrate the harshness of the world around the artist.
Surrealism is, by the very definition of the word, something beyond what the normal person can readily understand (Claybourne 4). José Pierre, one of the Surrealist artists, said, "The Surrealists found it grotesque to die for any flag whatsoever, even if its colors were harmoniously composed" (Horsley 1). To respond to the violence of the age, the Surrealists took components of what people know to exist in reality and twisted them into a dreamscape caught on canvas — or whatever medium the artist happened to be working in. Both Max Ernst, a Dadaist who became a central figure in Surrealism, and Salvador Dalí, a Surrealist extraordinaire, utilized their respective movements to create lasting icons that exemplify their philosophies and to force a broader discussion about what art is and what visuals can be accepted within that category.
Max Ernst and the Origins of Surrealism
Max Ernst was a founding member of Dadaism and would go on to contribute greatly to the founding of the Surrealist movement as the tenor of the world around him shifted (Warlick 62). The first painting of Ernst to be labeled Surrealist is Aquis Submersus. At first glance, the painting depicts a person swimming at nightfall. However, the clay figure placed prominently in the foreground draws secondary attention and complicates the initial reading. The swimmer moves through green water that is obviously unclean and unhealthy. The perfectly square buildings and storage facilities surrounding the pool create the impression that the swimmer is enclosed and surveilled. A cube of sorts rests at the furthest edge of the pool, appearing to float at least partially over the water's surface. The shadows of the clay figure and some unseen thin rectangle stretch toward the swimmer.
Everything surrounding the pool conspires to create in the viewer a sense of claustrophobia and danger. The swimmer herself — her gender suggested by the curvature of the hips — is of particular importance. She is face down in the water and seems to have been submerged for an indefinite time. Not only is the world around her threatening, but the woman appears to be threatening herself as well. Much of Ernst's work is designed to be provocative and to elicit a strong emotional response from the viewer (Klingsohr-Leroy 10).
André Breton and the Theory of Surrealist Art
Surrealism is a form of art that attempts to recreate the human mind — specifically, the unreality of the dreamscape — within the real world. According to André Breton's "Manifesto of Surrealism," the Surrealist painting is an endeavor to recapture the frustration and bewilderment of the dream in a realistic setting. He writes:
What I most enjoy contemplating about a dream is everything that sinks below the surface in a waking state, everything I have forgotten about my activities in the course of the preceding day, dark foliage, stupid branches. In "reality," likewise, I prefer to fall… I would like to sleep, in order to surrender myself to the dreamers, the way I surrender myself to those who read me with eyes wide open; in order to stop imposing, in this realm, the conscious rhythm of my thought (Breton).
This, then, is the stated purpose of the Surrealist movement: the creation of imagery rooted in the subconscious mind, bringing that unseen inner world into the visible realm. Filmmaker Luis Buñuel said, "The real purpose of surrealism was not to create a new literary, artistic, or even philosophical movement, but to explode the social order, to transform life itself" (Ross 1). A Surrealist's intent is to create a visual piece from something intangible — something unseeable to anyone who does not share the same mental space as the artist in his or her state of dreaming. Often, what we visualize in the subconscious is not something we wish to encounter in our waking hours, which is why so much of the art from the movement seems odd or unsettling.
Breton also quotes the poet Pierre Reverdy, who stated: "The image is a pure creation of the mind. It cannot be born from a comparison but from a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be — the greater its emotional power and poetic reality" (Breton).
Works Cited
Breton, Andre. "Manifesto of Surrealism." 1924. Print.
Claybourne, Anna. Surrealism. UK: Heinemann, 2009. Print.
"Clocking in with Salvador Dali: Salvador Dali's Melting Watches." Salvador Dali Museum. Print.
Dali, Salvador. The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. New York: Dover, 1994. Print.
Hoffman, Irene. "Documents of Dada and Surrealism: Dada and Surrealists Journals in the Mary Reynolds Collection." The Art Institute of Chicago. 2001. Web. May 8, 2011. http://www.artic.edu/reynolds/essays/hofmann.PDF
Horsley, Carter B. "Surrealism: Two Private Eyes." 1999. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Print.
Klingsohr-Leroy, Cathrin. Surrealism. Print.
Nadeau, Maurice. The History of Surrealism. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1989. Print.
Rojas, Carlos. Salvador Dali, or the Art of Spitting on Your Mother's Portrait. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1985. Print.
Ross, Michael. Salvador Dali and the Surrealists: Their Lives and Ideas. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003. Print.
Sanchez, Monica. "History of Surrealism." Web. May 8, 2011. http://www.gosurreal.com/history.htm
Warlick, M. E. Max Ernst: A Magician in Search of Myth. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001. Print.
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