With Salvador Dalí as its figurehead, the great ship of Surrealism traversed the turbulent seas of the early 20th century with sails billowing with dreams and desires. Inspired by the psychoanalytical practice of Sigmund Freud, the Surrealists championed the unconscious as the domain of truth, uninhibited by the standards or expectations of society.

With techniques ranging from hypnotism to nocturnal walks to automatic writing, the likes of André Breton, Max Ernst, Brassaï, and Meret Oppenheim produced paintings, drawings, texts, and films in which they sought to excavate their most intimate and primal instincts. The results abound with sexual fantasies, with mysterious, menacing creatures, and with the juxtaposition of seemingly contradictory objects or ideas.

This book introduces the origins and the sensational legacy of the Surrealist movement, one of the most profound and enduring influences on film, theater, literature, art, and thought.

Featured artists: Hans Arp, André Breton, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, René Magritte, André Masson, Matta, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Meret Oppenheim, Yves Tanguy

About the series

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art History series features:

approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions

a detailed, illustrated introduction

a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist