Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

European surrealism

The term ‘surrealism’ was coined in 1917 by the French writer Guillaume Appollinaire. He used the word to describe something that rose above reality, something that was ‘surreal’. The Paris surrealist artists created a reality in their work which could not actually exist except in dreams and in the realm of imagination. Surrealism had considerable influence in Europe, and many artists moved to Paris: Max Ernst from Germany, Salvador Dalí from Spain. Artists produced surrealist work in various countries, such as René Magritte in Belgium and later Paul Delvaux and Giorgio de Chirico in Italy.

Sigmund Freud

An important source of inspiration for surrealism was the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud. Freud developed psychoanalysis - the theory of human subconsciousness - at the start of the previous century. Freud believed that man’s behaviour was to a large degree driven by subconscious and irrational urges. The French writer André Breton, founder of surrealism, became acquainted with Freud’s theories when he worked as an assistant in a psychiatric hospital during the First World War. Breton thought society had to be freed from rationality, logic and a middle-class mentality. Exposing man’s suppressed urges would free his tormented mind. Freud’s theories were the starting-point of Breton’s 1924 ‘Manifeste du Surrealisme’.

Manifesto

The founder of the surrealist movement was the French author André Breton, who wrote the ‘Manifeste du Surrealisme’ in 1924. In this, he laid out his ideas about surrealism in relationship to art and society. He also described his methods of exploring the subconscious using art. For example, impulses from the subconscious could be transferred directly to paper using the method of ‘écriture automatique’, automatic writing. This could be done, for example, by drawing when half asleep or under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The library of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen contains a copy of Breton’s influential manifesto.

Surrealism in Rotterdam

In 1965, ‘The Pair’ by Max Ernst and ‘On the threshold of freedom’ by René Magritte were acquired for the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Since then, the collection of surrealist art has grown considerably. The major acquisitions were made in the period of 1977 and 1979. Twelve works by Magritte and Dalí were acquired from the collection of Edward James, a poet who had also been the benefactor of the two artists in the 1930s. The works of surrealists became one of the most important pillars of the museum collection. In 2005, the world famous ‘Mae West Lips Sofa’ by Salvador Dalí was acquired, in 2007 ‘Paysage avec nuages roses’ by Yves Tanguy and in 2009 a ‘Shadow Box’ by Joseph Cornell.

A Belgian surrealist

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen owns no less than 15 paintings by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. Magritte wanted to show the ‘mystery of the everyday’. By divorcing things from their daily surroundings, that mystery could be revealed. Magritte wanted to achieve this without the spectator rejecting the painting as an improbable figment of the imagination. For every object he searched for a second image element that had a hidden relationship to it. ‘Le modèle rouge III’ shows a pair of bare feet which transform into shoes. The feet and the shoes are thus placed in a strange light

Magazines - The riddle of Isidore Ducasse

The surrealists expressed their vision on art and society in various publications and magazines. The first issue of the magazine La Révolution Surréaliste appeared at the end of 1924. On the first page of the first issue there was a photograph of an unrecognisable object, wrapped in rags, a work by Man Ray. A reconstruction of this same object is part of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen collection. The title ‘The riddle of Isidore Ducasse’ refers to the book ‘Les Chants de Maldoror’ that Ducasse wrote under the pseudonym Comte de Lautréamont. The book is a cynical attack on western civilisation and this made Ducasse a hero of the surrealists. A quotation from the book became their motto: ‘As beautiful as the accidental meeting of a sewing-machine and an umbrella on the cutting table’. Man Ray refers to this quotation with this wrapped sewing-machine. During the 1930s, the magazine Minotaure became the surrealists’ most important vehicle. The magazine, sponsored by the wealthy Edward James and with André Breton as editor, drew attention to as yet unknown artists such as Hans Bellmer, Paul Delvaux and Alberto Giacometti.

Inspired benefactor

Edward James was a rich English aristocrat and a surrealist poet. In the 1930s, he supported both Magritte and Dalí by purchasing work from them. Dalí also received financial support from him for two years and Magritte lodged in his house in London in order to complete a number of paintings. In addition, he gave financial support to the magazine Minotaure. James decorated and furnished one of his houses, the Monkton house in London, as a surrealistic dream. Dalí’s ‘Mae West Lips Sofa’ was also given a place in this house. James himself was immortalised in the number of surrealist paintings. Magritte, for example, made a puzzling portrait of James that is now in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen collection.