— Ch. 1 · The Manifesto War —
Surrealism.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
In the spring of 1917, Guillaume Apollinaire used the word surrealism for the first time in program notes for a ballet called Parade. The play featured music by Erik Satie and a scenario written by Jean Cocteau. Apollinaire described this new alliance between scenery and costumes as giving rise to a kind of surrealism that would appeal to the best minds of his day. This term lay dormant until October 1924 when two rival groups published competing manifestos in Paris. Yvan Goll released his Manifeste du surréalisme on October 1st, fourteen days before André Breton published his own version on October 15th. Breton eventually won the battle through tactical superiority and numerical strength, but the conflict defined the movement's early identity. The group led by Breton included Louis Aragon, Philippe Soupault, Paul Éluard, and Benjamin Péret. They believed automatism was a better tactic for societal change than the Dada methods led by Tristan Tzara. Goll's faction counted figures like Francis Picabia, Marcel Arland, and Robert Delaunay among its members. The two sides clashed openly at one point, even fighting physically at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées over the rights to the term Surrealism. Breton's victory established him as the undisputed leader who claimed the term for his specific group.
Techniques Of The Unconscious
André Breton initially doubted that visual arts could be useful in the Surrealist movement because they appeared less malleable than writing. He feared they were not open enough to chance or automatism. This caution changed with the discovery of techniques like frottage, grattage, and decalcomania. Giorgio de Chirico had already developed metaphysical art between 1911 and 1917 using stark color contrasts. His painting The Red Tower from 1913 showed an unornamented style later adopted by others. Max Ernst created automatic drawings in 1924 that reflected the influence of the unconscious mind. These works marked the break from Dada and the acceptance of visual arts into the movement. Yves Tanguy produced Promontory Palace in 1931 featuring molten forms and liquid shapes. Salvador Dalí made these liquid shapes a trademark in his famous work The Persistence of Memory. The painting features watches that sag as if melting under heat. Joan Miró applied fluid curving lines and intersecting colors to his paintings during this period. André Masson's automatic drawing from 1925 used ink on paper measuring 23.5 by 20.6 centimeters. The group aimed to expose psychological truth by stripping ordinary objects of their normal significance.