Surrealism and Pop Art
Jeremy Shipe
Western Governors University

Surrealism and Pop Art
Dictionary.com defines Surrealism as a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or non-rational significance of imagery arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions, etc. Further, the origin of the word is from the French (from sur- "beyond" + réalisme "realism"). This art period began in the 1920s in Europe and really culminated as a continuation of the Dada movement. Both periods relied heavily on irrational imagery and pushed the boundaries of what was thought to be art. The Surrealism movement was officially launched in 1924, after André Breton wrote “Le Manifeste du Surréalisme” and inspired writers and artists to develop art from the unconscious mind or without thought.
Coming out of World War I, many European artists were disgusted by the violent images of the war and seemed to find solace within the images of their dreams. Sigmund Freud’s “The Ego and The Id”, was first published in 1923 and the Surrealist latched on to the thought of a struggle between the conscious and the unconscious.
Surrealists have a style that leads for interpretation of each work very much to the audience. With psychedelic images and many items that just don’t belong; the artists often gave no reason for why they created their works other than how they envisioned the piece.
Surrealism’s influence on future art movements, including Pop art, was very similar to art movements before. Breaking traditional thoughts of what art is and introducing thought provoking images to the audience. While both of these movements followed major conflicts (WW I and WW II, respectively), surrealists did not embrace, nor include, commercial products or celebrities within their pieces. If they had, Rene Magritte’s green apple might have been a Chiquita banana with a giant blue and yellow label.
Salvador Dali painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931 and it is one of surrealism’s most recognized paintings. In it, you find several images of melting or drooping clocks. The beach-like setting with cliffs in the background and a strange figure lying on the ground really capture the essence of a dream state and the conflict between what is real and what is perception of reality.
The Pop art movement began in the 1950s. Pop art utilizes imagery of items found in popular culture. Following World War II, advertising and media were really booming. Everyday items and famous people are images often found in pop art pieces. From Coca-Cola bottles to John Wayne, capitalism and commercialism were embraced and celebrated by pop artists. Pop artists left the dream world of the surrealists and turned decidedly towards recognizable images of the day.
Pop Art changed the way we view everyday items. Prior to this movement, no one thought of putting an image of John Lennon on a canvas and adding a few strokes of color to call it art. Pop Art features are still used in media today. On tee shirts, posters and paintings, you still find the use of bright colors and recognizable images from the past and present.
Andy Warhol, probably the most recognized artist during the pop art movement, got his start as an illustrator for Glamour Magazine in New York City in 1949. His drawings were included in advertising and articles as he tried to make a name for himself. In 1962, he launched a series of paintings and prints featuring Campbell’s Soup cans. Many critics questioned the merits of this series as art.
When Mr. Warhol created the Marilyn Diptych painting in 1962, following the death of Marilyn Monroe, he used a silk screening process to color half of the painting in orange, pink, yellow and blue. The other half of the painting remained in black and white. This could have been to show the two sides of Marilyn, her flamboyant, radiant public persona and the darker, more subdued private life she led that caused her to overdose on drugs, ending her life.
While it is doubtful that Andy Warhol had The Persistence of Memory in his thoughts as he created one of the most iconic pop art pieces, there are some similarities to the pieces. Most of the similarities are drawn out of questioning the purpose of the artist. In the black and white images of the Marilyn Diptych, were the distorted images how Marilyn Monroe saw her own life? Did the monster-like creature in the center of Dali’s work represent a self-portrait of the how the artist saw himself in his dreams? Did Warhol choose the bright neon colors as a psychedelic, unconscious perception of her world?

Reference Page surrealism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 18, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/surrealism