«SURREALISM, n. Mental Automatism in its purest state, we propose to express through it – verbally, through writing and through any other means—the true functioning of thoughts. Dictated by thought, in the absence of any other type of control exerted by reason, abstained from any aesthetic or moral concerns. »
André Breton, 1st Surrealist Manifest
Surrealism established in Paris in 1924, it evolved from what was left by Dadaists and was one of the most influential artistic movements of the century. Surrealists wanted the revolution and its action, defined by disobedience to the norm, an opposition to tradition, they established themselves as an anti-classic art who aimed to fight the bourgeoise social structure. Surrealists kept a strict bond with Leon Trotsky, who resurfaced the surrealist manifest in that same year with the saying: “Art is no mirror, it is a hammer; it does not reflect, it shapes”, which summarizes in a few words the essentials of the surrealist attitude.
Surrealists were interested in Psychology, particularly, Freuds views on the subconscious and the dreams. They believed that art should be an expression of individuals most profound intimacy, and that artistic production should be as independent as possible from reasoning, and intent should be kept away from the creative process. That is the reason why they defended the creative process being done in a “state of trance”, close to a dream, and in the early years they even recurred to hypnosis and psychotropic external help, these strategies were stopped in the aftermath of an incident that almost culminated in a collective suicide.
From a visual arts point of view, Surrealism unfolded into two main paths. One, there was a strong bet in automatism, in a pictorial production, with no reflection, that sat on spontaneousness, that welcomed the uncertainty, the error, it was a route that artists such as André Masson, Jean Arp or Joan Miro chose; Two, they explored the representation of dreams, it didn’t have to be exactly the same, the paintings only had to appear dreamlike, this was mostly attained by contrary elements cohabitating with each other, and mixing two or more objects in an image, or even recurring to objects that held a strong symbolic value, which many times masked sexual impulses and fear. This route was selected in Giorgio de Chirico’s walls, by René Magritte or Salvador Dalí. Artists such as Max Ernst or Yves Tanguy walked lightly through both paths.
Surrealism was brought into Portugal by Cândido Costa Pinto, who had been given by André Breton the duty to organize a nucleus in Portugal. Similar to what had happened in France, where the Surrealists were maintaining close ties with Trotsky's social and artistic philosophies, the Lisbon group would display a blatant opposition to the fascist regime. The Surrealist Group of Lisbon became official in 1948 (ironically, without the presence of Costa Pinto, who had been outlawed, accused of collaborating with the regime) and immediately began working alongside the organizers of the III General Exhibition of Fine Arts with the goal of including 41 of its members work. Several issues with the political police culminated in the censorship of their work, this was accepted without much opposition by the organization, which led to a boycott by the surrealists, who decided to remove their paintings from the exhibition. As an alternative, they prepared an exclusively surrealist exhibition in the studio that had once belonged to two Surrealism doyens in Portugal, António Pedro and António Dacosta. This followed the exhibition held at Casa Repe in 1940, with the British sculptor Pamela Boden, and a previous experience with proto-surrealism, in which António Pedro and some friends had taken a series of literary cadavres-exquis to the press.
In 1949, following Mário Cesariny’s initiative, some artists abandoned the group to form another one — The Surrealists — which would come to an end shortly, in 1953, along with the publication of their manifesto, and after some of the artists had forsaken their surrealist work. In January 1952, a final and important exhibition was held. This exhibition brought together Fernando de Azevedo, Fernando Lemos, and Vespeira, in a luxury decoration shop in Chiado, where more than two hundred artworks were exhibited.
Surrealism would eventually lose its strength in Portugal when some of the members made the decision to either stop painting, or move to other artistic territories. Only Mário Cesariny and Cruzeiro Seixas remained faithful to Surrealism for the rest of their careers, both their spirit and some of their plastic strategies would have a strong influence on younger artists who would surface during the next decade.
Rapto na paisagem povoada, 1947
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
António Pedro
Intervenção romântica, 1940
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
António Pedro
O Avejão Lírico, 1939
Colecção João Rendeiro
Cena Aberta, 1939
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
Serenata açoriana, 1940
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
Antítese da calma, 1940
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
Mulher da época, 1941
Óleo sobre cartão, Colecção Gulbenkian
sem título (retrato bidireccional), 1943
Óleo sobre platex, colecção privada
Aurora Hiante, 1942
Óleo sobre madeira, Colecção Gulbenkian
L’oppresseur, 1951
Madeira, obus de canhão, torneira, pena de chapéu, colagem, tinta acrílica, com campânula de vidro, Colecção Gulbenkian
Homenagem a Julien Gracq ou Littérature pour l’estomac, 1953
Garfo, tinteiro e suporte em madeira,Colecção Gulbenkian
1º Estudo para futuros encontros, 1954
Grafite e Guache sobre papel, Colecção Gulbenkian
Ocultação, 1950
Guache sobre papel, Colecção Gulbenkian
Ocultação, 1951
Tinta-da-china sobre papel, Colecção Gulbenkian
Ocultação,1950
Guache sobre papel, Colecção Gulbenkian
Cadavre exquis 1948
Óleo sobre tela, Colecção Gulbenkian
Cadavre exquis, 1949
Óleo sobre cartão, Colecção Gulbenkian
Cena Humana 1949-52
Papel Agfa, Fotografia, Colecção Gulbenkian
Eu (Auto-retrato), 1949
Papel Agfa, Fotografia, Colecção Gulbenkian
Intimidade dos Armazéns do Chiado, 1952
Prova fotográfica em gelatina sal de prata, Museu do Chiado
A Mão e a Faca, 1949
Gelatina sal de prata, Colecção Berardo
Soprofigura, 1947
Tinta-da-china, guache e verniz sobre papel, Museu do Chiado
Poème, 1947
Colagem, Colecção Gulbenkian
Período C, 1951
Aguarela, Lápis de cor e Tinta-da-china sobre papel, Colecção Gulbenkian
O salto da evidência erótica, 1948
Óleo sobre cartão, Colecção Gulbenkian
O Menino Imperativo, 1952
Cera, Vela, Manequim e Búzio, Colecção Gulbenkian
