The Best Books To Celebrate 100 Years Of Surrealism

by Dr Amy Dempsey
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6 books
Surrealism, meaning ‘above realism’ or ‘more than real,’ was one of the twentieth century’s most popular and pervasive art movements. Launched by French poet André Breton in 1924, it affected all branches of the arts and spread to all corners of the globe. In honour of the centenary of this most revolutionary and international of movements, I’d like to share information about my book as well as some of the books I particularly like about specific aspects of Surrealism:
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Surrealism

Amy Dempsey, 2019
My book about Surrealism introduces you to the main ideas and events of the 100-year-old movement as well as the art of an international cast of practitioners. In my writing, I try to give a voice and presence to as many of those who participated as possible, be they women or those outside of the dominant accounts previously available. Finding out more about them and giving their work exposure provides a richer experience for us all. Writing this book allowed me to show that there was much more to the movement than just melted clocks and bowler hats!

The Lives of the Surrealists

Desmond Morris, 2022
British zoologist, ethologist, and Surrealist artist Morris is also a great storyteller. He turned to Surrealism as part of his teenage rebellion against the horrors of World War II and met many of the prominent Surrealists of the1920s and 1930s. This book about 32 of the main characters was published while I was working on my Surrealism book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it – Morris brings the complex, whacky characters with their complicated, intertwining relationships to life. A great companion book to go with other broader histories of the movement.

The British Surrealists

Desmond Morris, 2022
If you are left wanting to know more after reading Morris’s ‘The Lives of the Surrealists’, look no further than this book, where he presents biographical sketches of 35 British artists who created Surrealist art during the 1930s. Only six are from the previous book, so there is plenty of new material here.

The Militant Muse

Love, War and the Women of Surrealism
Whitney Chadwick, 2017
Chadwick’s ground-breaking work on some of the women of Surrealism – their art and friendships, lives and loves – during the 1930s, 40s and 50s – is engaging and thought-provoking.

L'amour Fou

Photography & Surrealism
Rosalind E. Krauss, Jane Livingston, Dawn Ades, 1985
Photography proved a particularly adept medium for isolating the surreal image in the world through the use of close-ups, unexpected juxtapositions, darkroom manipulation and experimental techniques. This book was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, in 1985. Its curators, Krauss and Livingstone, put photography at the heart of Surrealism. This remains an invaluable resource for its texts, artist’s biographies and images.

The Surreal House

Jane Alison, 2010
This is a fascinating book looking at art, film and architecture by a wide range of practitioners exploring Surrealist ideas and themes in their work. Published in conjunction with an exhibition curated by Alison at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 2010, it stands on its own as an interesting, useful resource.