Surrealism Timeline

(1924 - Present)

Surrealism was an avant-garde cultural movement that emerged in Paris after World War I, led by poet André Breton. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, it sought to release the creative power of the unconscious mind through dream imagery, automatic writing, and unexpected juxtapositions. The movement profoundly influenced painting (Dalí, Magritte, Miró), sculpture, film, photography, and literature worldwide. More Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Origins and Precursors

Dada movement emerges at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich

Feb 5, 1916

The Dada movement was born at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich during World War I. Founded by Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings, Dada's anti-art stance, embrace of chance, and rejection of bourgeois logic directly influenced the surrealists who would soon follow.

Image source: Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich)

Guillaume Apollinaire coins the term 'surrealism'

Mar 1917

French poet Guillaume Apollinaire first used the word 'surrealism' in the program notes for Jean Cocteau's ballet Parade, and later in his play The Breasts of Tiresias. He described the term as a way to express a reality beyond the real, laying the linguistic groundwork for the future movement.

Image source: Guillaume Apollinaire

André Breton meets Sigmund Freud in Vienna

1921

André Breton, a former medical student who had treated shell-shocked soldiers using psychoanalytic techniques, visited Sigmund Freud in Vienna. Though their meeting was brief, it deepened Breton's interest in dreams and the unconscious, which became central pillars of surrealist theory.

Image source: André Breton

Surrealists flee Europe as World War II begins

Sep 1939 - 1941

With the outbreak of World War II, many surrealists fled Nazi-occupied Europe. Breton escaped to New York via Marseille, while Ernst was interned as an enemy alien before emigrating to America. The movement's center of gravity shifted to New York City.

Image source: Surrealism

Surrealists flee Europe as World War II begins

Leonora Carrington flees to Mexico and joins surrealists there

1942

British-born painter Leonora Carrington settled in Mexico City after fleeing wartime Europe, joining a vibrant community of émigré surrealists including Remedios Varo and Wolfgang Paalen. Her visionary paintings enriched the movement's later phase.

Image source: Leonora Carrington

Founding and Manifestos

Bureau for Surrealist Research opens in Paris

Oct 11, 1924

The Bureau for Surrealist Research opened at 15 Rue de Grenelle in Paris under Antonin Artaud's direction. It served as a gathering place for writers and artists collecting dream accounts, automatic texts, and other evidence of unconscious activity.

Publication of André Breton's Surrealist Manifesto

Oct 15, 1924

André Breton published the first Surrealist Manifesto, defining surrealism as 'psychic automatism in its pure state.' The manifesto formally launched the movement, calling for the liberation of thought from rational control and establishing the Bureau for Surrealist Research.

First issue of La Révolution surréaliste published

Dec 1, 1924

The first issue of La Révolution surréaliste appeared, edited by Pierre Naville and Benjamin Péret. The journal became the primary organ of the movement, publishing automatic writing, dream reports, polemics, and provocative imagery until its final issue in 1929.

Image source: La Révolution surréaliste

First issue of La Révolution surréaliste published

Salvador Dalí joins the Paris surrealists

1929

Young Spanish artist Salvador Dalí moved to Paris and joined the surrealist group, quickly becoming one of its most flamboyant figures. He introduced the paranoiac-critical method, using systematic irrationality to access images from the subconscious.

Image source: Salvador Dalí

Second Surrealist Manifesto published by Breton

Dec 30, 1929

Breton issued the Second Surrealist Manifesto, addressing internal conflicts and expelling several members over ideological disputes. It reaffirmed the pursuit of the marvelous and deepened the movement's engagement with Hegelian dialectics and occultism.

Breton returns to Paris and revives the movement

May 1946

After the war, Breton returned to Paris and reassembled the surrealist group, publishing the journal Néon and later Le Surréalisme même. The movement continued producing exhibitions and manifestos into the 1960s despite diminished influence.

Death of André Breton, leader of surrealism

Sep 28, 1966

André Breton died in Paris at age 70, ending five decades of leadership. His funeral drew crowds of artists and admirers, and the movement he founded gradually dissolved, though surrealist groups continued in various countries.

Art and Exhibitions

Max Ernst pioneers frottage technique

1925

Max Ernst developed frottage, a technique of rubbing pencil over paper placed on textured surfaces to produce unexpected images. He also invented grattage, scraping paint off canvas. These methods embodied surrealist automatism and chance in visual art.

Image source: Max Ernst

First group exhibition of surrealist painting in Paris

Nov 13, 1925

The first surrealist group painting exhibition opened at Galerie Pierre in Paris, featuring works by Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and others. It marked the movement's formal entry into the visual arts.

Image source: Pierre Loeb

René Magritte joins the surrealist movement

1926

Belgian painter René Magritte committed fully to surrealism after moving to Paris in 1927 and befriending Breton. His deadpan depictions of impossible juxtapositions, such as floating bowler-hatted men and pipes that are not pipes, became icons of the movement.

Image source: René Magritte

Magritte paints The Treachery of Images

1929

René Magritte painted The Treachery of Images, depicting a pipe with the caption 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' (This is not a pipe). The work interrogated representation itself and became one of the most philosophically influential images of the century.

Image source: The Treachery of Images

Dalí paints The Persistence of Memory

1931

Salvador Dalí completed The Persistence of Memory, featuring melting clocks draped across a desolate Catalan landscape. The small canvas became the most recognizable surrealist painting and a lasting emblem of time's fluidity in dreams.

Image source: The Persistence of Memory

Meret Oppenheim creates Object (Fur-covered cup)

1936

Meret Oppenheim created Object, a teacup, saucer, and spoon covered in gazelle fur, after Picasso remarked that anything could be covered in fur. Purchased by MoMA, it became one of the most celebrated surrealist objects.

Image source: Le Déjeuner en fourrure

International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London

Jun 11, 1936

The International Surrealist Exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries in London brought surrealism to Britain, featuring works by Dalí, Magritte, Ernst, Miró, and Picasso. Dalí famously lectured while wearing a diving suit, nearly suffocating on stage.

Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism exhibition at MoMA

Dec 1936 - Jan 1937

The Museum of Modern Art in New York mounted Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, curated by Alfred H. Barr Jr. The landmark exhibition introduced American audiences to the movement and helped pave the way for surrealism's wartime migration to the United States.

Image source: Dada

International Surrealist Exhibition held in Paris

Jan 1938 - Feb 1938

The Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris transformed the gallery into an immersive environment with a mannequin-lined central hall designed by Marcel Duchamp. Over 60 artists participated, making it the movement's grandest prewar showcase.

Image source: Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme

Frida Kahlo exhibits in New York; Breton hails her as surrealist

Nov 1938

André Breton organized Frida Kahlo's first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, declaring her work inherently surrealist. Kahlo herself resisted the label, stating she painted her own reality rather than dreams.

Image source: Frida Kahlo

Exhibition of surrealist art at Yale University

Feb 1942

Surrealism in Exile: The VVV portfolio and related exhibitions in early 1940s New York kept the movement visible in America. Shows like First Papers of Surrealism in October 1942, organized by Breton and Duchamp, mingled European masters with young American artists.

Peggy Guggenheim opens Art of This Century gallery

Oct 20, 1942

Peggy Guggenheim opened Art of This Century in New York, designed by Frederick Kiesler, showcasing surrealist masterpieces alongside emerging American art. The gallery nurtured Jackson Pollock and bridged surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.

Film, Literature, and Legacy

Publication of Nadja by André Breton

1928

Breton published Nadja, a semi-autobiographical novel recounting his encounters with a mentally ill woman he saw as embodying surrealist chance and madness. The book is considered a masterpiece of surrealist literature.

Dalí and Buñuel release film Un Chien Andalou

Jun 6, 1929

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí premiered Un Chien Andalou in Paris, a short film famous for its opening scene of an eye being sliced open. Built on dream logic without narrative explanation, it became the defining surrealist film.

Buñuel releases surrealist film L'Âge d'Or

Nov 1930

Luis Buñuel's L'Âge d'Or, made with input from Dalí, scandalized Paris with its blasphemous and erotic imagery. Right-wing groups attacked the theater screening it, and the film was banned for decades, cementing surrealism's reputation for provocation.

Image source: L'Age d'Or

Breton publishes Arcane 17 during exile in Canada

1944

Written while Breton stayed in Quebec, Arcane 17 blended personal love, myth, and hope for postwar renewal. It is regarded as one of the most poetic statements of late surrealist thought.

Image source: Arcane (TV series)

Dalí designs dream sequence for Hitchcock's Spellbound

Oct 31, 1945

Alfred Hitchcock commissioned Salvador Dalí to design the dream sequences for Spellbound, bringing surrealist imagery to mainstream Hollywood cinema. The collaboration demonstrated surrealism's growing influence on popular culture.

Image source: Spellbound (1945 film)

Major surrealist retrospectives spark global revival

1968 - 2020

From the 1960s onward, major museum retrospectives in Paris, London, and New York revived interest in surrealism. Landmark shows such as MoMA's 2013 survey and ongoing scholarship cemented the movement's enduring influence on contemporary art, advertising, film, and popular culture.

Key Facts

André Breton published the Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, officially founding the movement and defining it as 'psychic automatism.'
Surrealism grew out of Dadaism but shifted from anti-art protest toward exploring dreams and the unconscious mind.
Salvador Dalí's 1931 painting 'The Persistence of Memory,' with its melting clocks, became one of the most iconic Surrealist works.
Key artists include Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, and Meret Oppenheim.
Although its peak was between the World Wars, Surrealism continues to influence contemporary art, advertising, fashion, and film to this day.

Source

This Surrealism timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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