Table of contents
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themselves in a male dominated movement.Anumber of female artists did not agree with Freud’s theories and fought to be recognised in the movement for their art, not their sex, which will be discussed further in this piece of writing. Introducing contemporary female artists before the conclusion will communicate clearly that Freud’s psychoanalytical theories are still profoundly impactful up to the present day. To provide some background, Contemporary art is a term that is used to loosely describe more recent artworks, artworks that were created in the 1970s and onwards Contemporary art is a diverse umbrella term which categorises current artists away from artists that are not from the present period. As the Surrealist movement occurred in the ‘Modern art’category, I will look at the difference between the two, how they have progressed in style and revolutionization. It is immensely inspiring to compare artworks from one hundred years ago to artworks created now, as you can notice where the inspiration has derived from and how artists have built upon this in a more modern-day approach. For example, contemporary artists who use photography as their medium to convey their dreams, have shown how the surrealist movement has helmed to become relevant in the current art scene and modern society, due to the rapid use of technology today.
The Superego is the part of the mind that attends to the moral ideas and thoughts of the mind This part of the brain is responsible for self-doubting, questioning the actions and thoughts of others or yourself.
Aquote from Freud states, ‘The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.’(Freud, 1900).
To further state, this dream theory that Freud wrote and introduced did in fact inspire many artists, poets, writers, psychologists etc Ashort quote from Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of dreams’(Chapter 2: The Method of Dream Interpretation. The Analysis of a Specimen Dream) states, ‘Success remains a matter of ingenious conjecture, of direct intuition, and for this reason dream-interpretation has naturally been elevated into an art which seems to depend upon extraordinary gifts.’ (Freud, 1900). To gain more perspective, a peer reviewed journal states, ‘Since Freud has convinced us that dreams are a primary resource for investigating the unconscious, I intentionally designate this broad category by the name of "dream painting," so that we could treat these paintings as dreams, hopefully understandable in the light of psychoanalytic semiotics.’(Ku, n.d.).
In the coming discussions, In Chapter Two, there will be representation, examples and evidence of artists who used their extraordinary gift of creativity, to delve into their unconscious mind through expanding differing techniques and unique styles, which will be discussed and brought forth.
Chapter 2
Sigmund Freud inspired many artists through constructing multiple differing theories. His ‘The Interpretation of dreams’theory, was one of his more popular writings. This dream theory inspired artists, so much so, that an entire art movement was conjured, called The Surrealist Movement. This movement was extraordinary in its time, and artists that were involved in this movement are still talked about and referenced to this day, with their unique creations. The Surrealist Movement came into effect in Europe after World War one and was created approximately the 1920s. This movement introduced and trained this technique of ‘automatic drawing’, to gain access to ideas or images from their dreams. Surrealism was an art movement compiled of artworks that stem away from ‘the norm’, paintings that depicted the persons unconscious and subconscious mind and to truly and freely be able to express themselves through art. To further reiterate, Tate clearly states, ‘Surrealism aims to revolutionise human experience. It balances a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement’s artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional.At the core of their work is the willingness to challenge imposed values and norms, and a search for freedom.’(Tate, 2023). Furthermore, Surrealism, due to its absurdity and popularity, still has an impact on the art world to this current day. Surrealist art soared in price, the movement was well-received during this period in time and continues to inspire and influence artists to this day, around one hundred years later.
One popular surrealist artist in particular was Salvador Dali. Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was a Spanish artist from a small town in Barcelona. While Dali was a student in Madrid, he immersed himself in Freud’s theories and writings and took particular interest in his theories on the unconscious, sexuality, fears and dreams. Theories that Dali submerged himself in were ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’and ‘The Oedipus Complex’. Dali became obsessed with Freud’s theories, so much so, that he yearned to meet him in person and made several attempts to meet him throughout his career Dali rapidly gained popularity and status in society, which led him to have the opportunity to meet his idol, Freud. Dali’s obsession with Freud inspired him to produce surrealistic paintings and drawings that bended the fabric of reality through his canvases
Dali was arguably considered the most successful and popular male artist involved in the surrealist movement. His peculiar dreamlike artworks sparked interest in the art scene,
and he quickly became a very prominent figure in the art world at the time. Dali was known for his weird and symbolical painting’s, which he conjured up from dreams he had had One of his most recognizable artworks ‘The Persistence of Memory’ (Dali, 1931) encapsulates multiple melting clocks surrounded by a sparse landscape in the background. The painting is strange to the viewer, makes the viewer look closer to comprehend what might be occurring in this piece, which was Dali’s goal. Moma States ‘Mastering what he called “the usual paralyzing tricks of eye-fooling,” Dalí painted with “the most imperialist fury of precision,” he said, but only “to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality.”’(The Museum of ModernArt, 2019).
Dali would often create scenes of bizarrely realistic yet unrealistic bodies of art, with a touch of his own symbolism.Ajournal read states ‘When we encounter Dali's painting, we feel immediately that there is a dreamlike quality and unconscious content, and we do find something indexical to a dream or unconscious at the expression level, aside from those obvious symbols typically associated with the unconscious.’(Ku, n.d.)
To dive deeper, Dali wanted to convey the concept of time in dreams, time has no permanence. Furthermore, he has introduced skeletons, carcases and bugs in his work to signify death and decay. To further add, Dali also reworked his ‘The Persistence of memory’ (1931) painting to add more craziness and confusion. People have also theorised that the striking difference of the two artworks showed Dalis significant mental health decline and controversy he had faced through the years.
Chapter 3
To provide more research into the surrealist movement, there are many more artists involved that took inspiration from Sigmund Freud’s theories. One being Rene Magritte (1898-1967) a Belgian artist internationally known for his surrealistic paintings Magritte took inspiration from dreams and dream theory to create unusual surrealistic portraitures. Astatement from a Rene Magritte website, ‘In 1920s, influenced by the writings of psychologist Sigmund Freud, the literary, intellectual, and artistic movement called Surrealism sought a revolution against the constraints of the rational mind; and by extension, they saw the rules of a society as oppressive.’ (unknown, 2020). Comparative to Dali, Magritte didn’t necessarily idolise Freud and his writings. Instead he took inspiration from the theories on the mind and unconscious and left the rest. Magritte was fascinated with the concept of breaking free from social norms, by breaking down boundaries of reality. Magritte’s artworks didn’t become popular until the end of his life, however, the strange art he created is immensely memorable and has made an impact on the surrealist movement to this day.
‘The Son of Man’ (Magritte, 1946) is possibly one of his most popular artworks. This oil painting depicts a man in a top hat, with no face shown, as the face is covered by a floating green apple. The background has a sparse landscape which consists of clouds, a view of the ocean and a partially visible wall This painting, along with Dali’s ‘Persistence of memory’ (1931) were arguably the most famous artworks to have emerged from the surrealist movement.
Max Ernst (1891-1976) was a German artist who was involved in the Dada movement and later on in his career he participated in the surrealist movement. His artwork consisted of unsettling figures that he painted inspired by his dreams. Max Ernst comments on his work by stating, ‘My wanderings, my unrest, my impatience, my doubts, my beliefs, my hallucinations, my loves, my outbursts of anger, my revolts, my contradictions, my refusals to submit to any discipline… have not created a climate favourable to the creation of a peaceful, serene work. My work is like my conduct; not
women surrealist artists, that was an even harder hurdle to overcome by attempting to rebel against both the controversy on the unconscious mind and sexism.
Afamous Contemporary and Modern female artist that was openly against Freud’s ‘Oedipus Complex’theory was Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) was a FrenchAmerican female artist from Paris. She was a massive pioneer for the modern and contemporary arts, as her art career spanned eight decades. She gained popularity with her large-scale sculptures and installations that were inspired by her own memories, dreams and life experiences. To many, she is known as a well-known figure for feminist art.Although inspired by theories on the mind and dreams, she did not agree with the ‘Oedipus Complex’that Freud had released. Bourgeois created sculptures that mocked Freud and his damaging sexist theories throughout her career. Her artwork derived from her memories, both positive and negative, to create a timeline of what she went through and expressed that through her love of art.
Abook I have read states, ‘While her work tends toward the subjectively female, Bourgeois’s approach appropriates what has long been considered male, as if to take down the notions of femininity and masculinity one peg at a time. If standardized and cliched images and expectations of works by women artists were transformed in the decade, Bourgeois stands at the pinnacle of that change.’Louise Bourgeois, The Locus of Memory, works 1982-1993 (Charlotta Kotíková, Sultan and Leigh, 1994). Bourgeois created a piece of writing titled ‘Freuds Toys’, which goes into detail on her honest thoughts and feelings towards Freuds theories and controversial statements.
Female artists at this time were opening up their art in a more feministic approach. Women no longer felt they had to elude from creating ‘vile’or ‘unnatural’art. Women in the art industry wanted to protest that they are not submissive objects/muses, they are artists and can create sexual art just as male artists did. Tanning became associated with the Feminist movement through her unique explorations of the female form To further add, Tanning perfectly executed this association by conjuring this bizarre and striking female flesh wall installation. Some of her earlier works took a different creative approach. She created paintings that investigated her dreams which involved self-portraiture and nudity.Afew reoccurring elements Tanning painted throughout her career, include, doors and/or young girls with their long, wavy hair standing up right in the air.
‘Birthday’ 1942, an Oil painting that depicts a selfportrait of Tanning, surrounded by an array of open doorways. The repetition of opened doors lurk in the background to entice the viewer to look deeper, to figure out the proportions of the doors and their meaning. The crooked wooden floors travel across the canvas, winding around the doors in the hallway, which draws the viewer closer. To back my statement, The Philadelphia Museum of art states, ‘Tanning creates the dreamlike feeling in this painting in ways both obvious and subtle. The disconcerting perspective of the endless hallways is immediately evident, along with the fantastic creature at her feet. However, the deeply tilted floors and her robe comprised of writhing human bodies require a closer examination of the scene’, (Unknown, n.d.).
Tanning herself, has a blank expression on her face, looking at the viewer as she holds one of the doors open, inviting the viewer in The fabric of her clothes drape around
her partially nude figure, the purple robe covered in green branches and twigs near the foot of her skirt She adds further aspects of nature to the piece by introducing the griffon creature that sits at her feet, its wings are upright as it sits on all fours. This painting truly encapsulates the meaning behind the surrealist movement, as Tanning creates this realistic scene and style to a fantasy world which she has woven from her dreams. The paintings title itself, ‘Birthday’stems from Max Ernst, a surrealist artist which was referenced in this essay prior. He visited Tanning’s studio in 1942, where she had this artwork displayed on an easel. Tanning had not yet created a title for the artwork and asked Ernst if he had any ideas or suggestions. He suggested that she called the piece ‘Birthday’, as this would be her birth into the Surrealist movement.
Mia Campbell
For this last reference, I wish to refer to myself in first person as my work is exceptionally personal to me, which may conjure personal meanings to the viewer/ reader too. For this last section in Chapter four, I aim to reference some of my personal work as I am heavily inspired by the artists mentioned in this dissertation, their works, Freuds theories and the Surrealist movement as a whole. I wouldn’t entirely consider myself a surrealist artist, however, my art derives from my conjured dreams or nightmares, which I use to my advantage to create my own surrealistic paintings and drawings. I typically use Oil paints for my pieces, or charcoal for my drawings, as I adore the feeling of the mediums gliding onto the canvas or paper. This allows me to work quickly to get different forms and ideas created, and if I desire to, I can add layers to forge realistic textures and details. My work symbolises the inner workings of my mind as I sleep, which I try to execute in the conscious form by weaving my dreams onto canvas. I like to think of my paintings as stills from my dreams, a screenshot in a moment of time, that my brain has stored and remembered from the dream filled night
As mentioned above in the First Chapter pg 3, I am profoundly fascinated and inspired by many artforms that explore Sigmund Freud’s interesting dream theory. Exploration takes many forms in film, paintings and drawings, photography, music, sculpture and occasionally performance. Particularly, I draw inspiration from artists that explore the theme of the unconscious, reality, false reality, society and absurdity. To use one film as an example, ‘Inception’(2010) investigates the power of our
minds, how our brains can create stories, visions and emotions that feel real as we are dreaming. This movie explores these themes in a unique way as the execution of the film conjures this feeling of unsettlement. The film brings forward this aching theory and question…what is real?
I wish to strike questions to the viewer, I want them to question what they are looking at, what made you paint this way? how does this artwork showcase the unconscious mind? Often, I do not know the answers myself, which adds to the beauty of the surreal.
Through my love of life drawing, I discovered that I could blend the two themes I am fascinated by, the mind and life drawing. Choosing to combine the two to create these weird and wonderful female forms whose flesh combines to further create surreal mounds of flesh, which seem to appear as one form. The amalgamation of flesh stretches across the canvas, consuming the space as the forms twist and warp.
To provide the reader with some context, I first sparked this inspiration during my third year of studies. Throughout my time at University, I have painted symbolistic and surrealistic paintings derived from my dreams, similar to Dali’s style of work by introducing depictions of objects and personal meanings to my artworks. In year three, I decided to open up my research on the mind, as I was full of curiosity on how the brain works when we sleep. Do dreams have meaning? How do we dream and why?
faces with genitalia or posing their bodies in such a way that would symbolise pleasure for men. This derived from Freud’s belief that dreams were thoughts and repressed needs from the conscious, rooted in the primitive needs of a man. In paintings, this would often display the conquering of a women in a sexual manner. This, I do not agree with. Instead, I rebel against this theory by creating grotesque female form amalgamations, that naturally flow together in this beautifully intricate and liberating maze Through painting all forms of female body types, I aim to crush societies views on women’s bodies that have been around for many years, we must be hidden, and if we are not skinny and quiet, we are not desirable.
Conclusion
The concept of the unconscious and subconscious mind was difficult to introduce because of its evasive nature and subjectiveness in art and society. Likewise, to conclude a discussion on terms that relate to what cannot be fully understood is very challenging. What can be concluded from this discussion though, there have been changes in the way artists have processed the unknown subject of the dream and its relation to psychology and science To conclude, through my research on the relation between psychology and art I have explored that the two, as it happens, inspire each other. Sigmund Freud inspired artists, so much so, they created an art movement derived from his theories. On the flip side, artists also inspired Freud to create theories on artists minds and artworks they produced, for example, Freud took particular interest in Michelangelo’s detailed paintings and drawings To further conclude, I have researched, analysed and arranged a body of writing that clearly shows the impact that psychoanalysis has had on art throughout history, twentieth century art through to contemporary art.
Sigmund Freuds more controversial theories, the popularly controversial theory being ‘The Oedipus theory’, created a movement of female artists and activists who created artworks to express their thoughts and emotions, in hopes to squash Freud and his damaging sexist views Artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, Dorothea Tanning, Frida Kahlo and Leonara Carrington had no issue expressing their thoughts on sexism in society and the art community. Some of these women were heavily involved in the surrealist movement, which I found truly interesting while indulging in research about female surrealists. Dreams are still being explored through various art forms and subjects to this day which links to the Contemporary references researched and explored in Chapter four, one reference showcases my own work. There will be a continuation of artists who paint their dreams as there are many contemporary art students that take inspiration from these impactful artists, male and female, to create variations of surrealistic works that symbolise their own dreams. Nearing the end of this discussion, evidence suggests that the surrealist movement is still relevant today, the difference being,their creations will be under the term ‘Contemporary art movement’not the ‘Surrealist movement’which seemingly stays located in the past.
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