1920's Europe and Russia

Task

Research surrealism and sexuality in 1920's art, photography and film.

After the Dada art following the first World War, realism went out the window. The movement started in Paris (the center of Surrealism) and from the 1920's it spread across the globe.

The art of surrealism featured a lot of sexual connotations, with basic human fears, motivations and instincts being the focus. These emotions and desires were almost animalistic and these were the parts of the brain these artists were trying to access.

"Eroticism is the force majeure that drives Surrealism. It is the great liberating power. It is always present, wether overt of hidden- a constant sourse of disturbance..." 1

One of the most well-known and popular artists of the surrealist art movement was Salvador Dali, a Spanish artist born in 1904. Towards the late 1920s Dali had fully embraced Surrealism and his works were focused on his own sexual fears and eroticism.

Figure 1, The Great Masturbator, Salavador Dali, 1929

This was one of Dali's earliest surrealist paintings. It was an expression of his anxiety, again related to his sexual fears, especially of women and their sexuality.

"Dalí himself described it as "the expression of my heterosexual anxiety". In 1929 he was still a virgin, inhibited by deep-seated fears of female sexuality and anal obsessions." 2

Dali also made a film along with director Luis Bunuel, Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog). It was a hit when released, being shown for over 8 months, and uses dream logic and a disjointed timeline to further the surreal experience. It was based on supressed human emotions, featuring scenes from dreams of Dali and Bunuel, including a moon sliced through by a cloud 'like an eye with a razor'.

Figure 2, A still from Un Chien  Andalou showing a woman's eye being sliced open.

One of the biggest surrealist photohraphers of the time was Man Ray, who was introduced to surrealism by artists of the Dada such as Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau. The women in his life were usually the subjects in his work, and he showed them off to the world whereas most artists would rather have kept their sexual partners to themselves.

Figure 3, Violon d'Ingres, Man Ray, 1924

In Paris Man Ray met one of his most prominent muses, Kiki de Montparnasse, and the images she inspired him to create were possibly the most openly erotic ever produced. Violon d'Ingres is probably the most famous, and the title is a mischievous play on words, with the 'f' shaped violin holes adding the famous final touch.

"The woman's back is in itself an instrument, and one that the skilled player (the lover) can coax into life with his (or her) hands. ... Ray formed a link between "two distant realities", a game the Surrealists loves to play. The suggestive title implies that, by transforming his model into an object, Kiki has become a toy or plaything for Man Ray..." 3

This is again an example of the prominent sexual themes in Surrealism, prevalent throughout both the photography and art of the movement, while the film produced in this era had obvious themes in the human subconcious and dream logic.

List of Illustrations

Figure 1 The Great Masturbator, Salavador Dali, 1929, HARRIS, N. The Life and Works of Dali, Parragon, 2002, p. 15
Figure 2 Un Chien Andalou, Salvador Dali & Luis Bunuel, 1929, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_Chien_Andalou , 21/02/14
Figure 3 Violon d'Ingres, Man Ray, 1924, Man Ray, Grange Books, 2005, p.15

References

[1] BOUQUERET, C. Surrealist Photography, p. 4
[2] HARRIS, N. The Life and Works of Dali, p. 15
[3] Not Stated, Man Ray, p. 27

Bibliography

BOUQUERET, C. Surrealist Photography, (2007) Thames and Hudson, London
HARRIS, N. The Life and Works of Dali, (2002) Parragon Publishing, London
Not Stated, Man Ray, (2005) Grange Books, London