The Surrealists at the Pompidou Center

The Center Pompidou is currently presenting the exhibition Surrealism where a work by the artist Mimi Parent, originally from Montreal, is presented among those of the great painters of this movement which is celebrating its hundredth anniversary.

In the 1950s, Mimi Parent and her husband, also from Quebec, joined the surrealist movement and settled in Paris, like many other artists.

But why did this movement attract so many painters, sculptors, photographers, poets, writers and even musicians?

To answer this question, we must remember that the First World War had barely ended, subsequently giving rise to a race towards industrialization where the machine took on almost more importance than the human.

The surrealists then regrouped behind André Breton, the group’s leader, to put forward Art forms where adventure, discovery and the transformation of society were the order of the day.

Freedom

In fact, it is complete freedom that all these artists wanted.

They wanted to change the world, to make it better, also through contact with nature and the exploration of myths. Night dreams have also become sources of inspiration, eroticism a universe of exploration. The surrealists wanted a more humane world, less focused on productivity.

It is also in dreams that Salvador Dali, one of the members of the surrealists whom you know well, draws his inspiration. He captures on his canvas the experience of the marvelous that dreams leave in everyone.

We all remember Dali’s soft watches, but thanks to today’s exhibition, we are discovering other paintings including the one aptly titled The Dreampainted in 1931.

In this painting, some figures are naked, recalling another painting exhibited in the Tears of Eros section and which is entitled The great masturbator, made in 1929. While this title may still be disturbing today, imagine the public reaction at that time. We can guess that the critics were screaming scandal.

In fact, André Breton had decreed that his movement would reduce “art to its simplest expression which is love”.

This is why so many artists linked to surrealism, including Joan Miro, André Masson, Max Ernst, Paul Delvaux, up to Picasso, to name only a few, used the image of sex to highlight before the idea of ​​a quest for freedom.

Success

Open for less than a month, the exhibition is already making a lot of noise in the international press because of the way in which the works are presented, that is to say by theme, and also because of the masterpieces. work that can be seen there.

It is true that to fully understand the extent of this movement which lasted from 1924 to the end of the 1960s, not only in Europe, but also in Mexico, India, Great Britain, Germany and Quebec, it was practice of grouping works by similarities, promoting better understanding.

INFOS

The exhibition Surrealism is held in Paris until January 13, 2025 at the Georges Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture, also called Beaubourg.
Or : place Georges-Pompidou
75004 Paris (4th arrondissement)
Metro: Rambuteau, Town Hall or Châtelet
RER : Châtelet Les Halles

For more than 20 years, Manon Blanchette has been an art historian and museum manager. She has contributed to numerous contemporary art magazines.