Surrealism
Visual Arts, Grade 9
Unit: Surrealism
NYS Learning Standards
The Arts Standard 1:
b. Students develop their own ideas and images through the exploration and creation of art works based on themes, symbols, and events
c. Students understand and use the elements and principles of art (line, color, texture, shape) in order to communicate their ideas
Standard 3:
a. Students explain their reflections about the meanings, purposes, and sources of works of art; describe their responses to the works and the reasons for those responses
b. Students explain the visual and other sensory qualities (surfaces, colors, textures, shape, sizes, volumes) found in a wide variety of art works
Standard 4:
a. Students look at and discuss a variety of art works and artifacts from world cultures to discover some important ideas, issues, and events of those cultures
Students create art works that show the influence of a particular culture
Standard Benchmarks
Skills and Techniques
Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes related to the visual arts
Uses media, techniques, tools, and processes to communicate an idea or concept based on research, environment, personal experience, observation, or imagination
Understands the characteristics of various mediums and selects those that are appropriate for their purposes and intent
Selects and uses appropriate media, techniques, tools, and processes to complete a desired task
Consistently and with limited assistance demonstrates the safe and ethical use, as well as routine maintenance, of appropriate materials
Cultural and Historical Connections
Standard 3: Understanding the cultural dimensions and contributions of the arts
Understands how the social, cultural, and historical conditions influence the function, meaning, and execution of works of art
Identify how art from diverse world cultures reflect aspects of those cultures
Create artworks that reflect a particular historical period of a culture
Understands how art and artists influence change in historical and cultural contexts
Recognizes cultural impact of art on society
Aesthetic and Critical Analysis
Standard 4: Responding to and analyzing works of art
Students will reflect upon, interpret, and evaluate works of art using the language of art criticism
Analyze and interpret the ways in which various themes (social, cultural, and/or political) have been explored in visual art
Work toward developing a working vocabulary using the language of art criticism
Create their own, or shared, critical responses to works of art
Discuss and/or write their analysis and interpretations of their own works of art and/or the art of others using appropriate critical language
Students will compare the ways in which a variety of ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts
Gain an understanding of the visual and sensory qualities (surfaces, colors, textures, shapes, sizes, volumes) in art
Explore the themes that are found in works of visual art and how the artworks are related to other forms of art and other disciplines
How to use this book
Coaches
In this book, you will see coaches that ask you questions and give you ideas and models of how to approach the process of historical inquiry and the art elements. Use these coaches to help you work through your own project, or to get ideas on how to work with different kinds of documents.
These coaches are guides to help you:
There are also words within the text that are highlighted and you can access those and it will link you to the glossary for the definition.
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that was founded in 1924 by Andre Breton. The movement began in Europe, primarily Paris, France. It developed out of the earlier Dada movement which before World War I produced works of anti-art. It was influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, emphasizing on imagination and subconscious imagery.
Surrealism style uses visual imagery from the subconscious mind to create art without the intention of logical comprehensibility. It features the element of surprise and unexpected contrasting effects. Surrealism is a way of combining conscious and unconscious realms of experience. The world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world.
Why is Surrealism important?
It provided an alternative to the geometric side of abstraction . It influenced young painters of the 1940's who would become Abstract Expressionists and continues to influence many artists today. It affected literature, film and music of many countries.
Surrealist Artists
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali is known as the most famous Surrealist Artist. He was born in 1904. He attended the School of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain. In 1931, he met his muse and future wife Gala. At this point in his life he painted his most famous work, The Persistence of Memory . He is known for his contributions not only to surrealism, but also to fashion, theatre and photography.
Surrealist Artists
Rene Magritte
Rene Magritte began his association with the surrealist community when he moved to Paris with his wife in 1927. He is best known for his juxtaposition of ordinary objects in unusual context and for giving familiar objects new translations. His popularity grew throughout the 1960's during the pop culture period.
Surrealist Artists
Yves Tanguy
Yves Tanguy became a painter when he had no training. He would become completely absorbed by the current painting that he was working on. He was introduced to surrealism in 1924. His work would show vast, abstract landscapes, mostly in a tight limited palette of colors, only occasionally showing flashes of contrasting color accents. These landscapes are populated with various abstract shapes.
The End?
It is not clear about the end, or if there was an end, to the Surrealist movement. Some historians say that World War II ended the movement and others say that the death of Andre Breton marked the end of Surrealism as an organized movement but Surrealism has had a huge impact on the arts and the idea still continues to be used in art today. It has created acts of revolts and efforts to free imagination and go beyond the realm of reality.
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism
http://www.surrealism.org/
http://www.surrealist.com/
http://www.surrealism.co.uk/