# Surrealist Graphics

> Launched by André Breton's 1924 manifesto, Surrealism sought the marvellous in dreams, chance and the unconscious. Its graphic legacy (uncanny collage from old engravings, solarised and cameraless photographs, impossible juxtapositions painted with illusionistic precision) passed through magazines like Minotaure into fashion, advertising and book design on both sides of the Atlantic.

- Period: 1924–1960
- Where: Western Europe, North America
- Origin: Paris, France; wartime exile in New York
- Branch: Avant-garde
- Also known as: Surrealism, Surrealist collage and photography
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism/

## How it works

- Juxtapose unrelated objects with illusionistic precision so the impossible looks plausible.
- Collage old engravings or photographs seamlessly, hiding the joins to make the dream convincing.
- Manipulate photographs through solarisation, photograms, double exposure and distortion.
- Stage figures in deep, empty dreamscapes with low horizons and long shadows.
- Keep typography quiet, classical or hand-written so the image carries the shock.
- Use chance and automatism (frottage, decalcomania, automatic drawing) to generate forms.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (defining)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (defining)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Script](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/script/) (occasional)
- [Didone](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/didone/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (occasional)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (defining)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (occasional)
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)
- [Cosmic & celestial](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cosmic-and-celestial/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (characteristic)
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (occasional)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional)
- [Motion & broadcast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/motion-and-broadcast/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Rational & objective, Authoritative & institutional, Modular grid, Flat, Diagram & data, Pictogram

Palette: #1d1b2e, #6f8fb5, #d8b77a, #a24a2a, #efe8d8, #2b2b2b

Typefaces: Artists' hand-lettered mastheads (Minotaure covers), Didone and Victorian display faces lifted from 19th-century catalogues, Magritte's schoolroom cursive (The Treachery of Images, 1929)

Known for: André Breton (Manifesto of Surrealism, 1924); Minotaure magazine (Albert Skira & Tériade, 1933–39); Max Ernst (La Femme 100 têtes, 1929; Une semaine de bonté, 1934); Man Ray (rayographs; Électricité portfolio, 1931); René Magritte; Salvador Dalí; Claude Cahun & Marcel Moore (Aveux non avenus, 1930)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Dada](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada.md) (1916–1924)
- Led to: [Hipgnosis Photographic Concept Sleeve](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hipgnosis-sleeve.md) (1968–1983)
- Alike in its design choices: [Weirdcore & Dreamcore](https://stylogeny.com/styles/weirdcore.md) (2019–present), 58% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Métal hurlant Science-Fiction Comics (Mœbius, Druillet & Les Humanoïdes Associés)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/metal-hurlant.md) (1974–1987), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Hand-Painted Bollywood Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bollywood-poster.md) (1940–1999), 48% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Syrian Revolution Graphics (Kafranbel Banners & Poster Collectives)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/syrian-revolution-graphics.md) (2011–2024), 43% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vaporwave](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vaporwave.md) (2011–2017), 43% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Egyptian Revolutionary Street Art (Mohamed Mahmoud Murals)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-revolution-street-art.md) (2011–2014), 43% alike

## Real works

- [Une semaine de bonté ou Les sept éléments capitaux](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339018): Max Ernst, 1934, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Torso of a Woman, Propeller and Rope (Torse de femme, hélice et cordage)](https://www.europeana.eu/item/2024918/photography_ProvidedCHO_The_Israel_Museum__Jerusalem_241068): Max Ernst, 1934, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (via Europeana)
- [View, series V, no. 1 (March 1945), front cover](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_magazine_March_1945_front_cover.jpg): Marcel Duchamp (cover); Charles Henri Ford (editor), March 1945, View magazine (scan from the magazines.iaddb.org digital archive, via Wikimedia Commons; no holding institution named)
- [The Treachery of Images (This Is Not a Pipe) (La trahison des images [Ceci n'est pas une pipe])](https://collections.lacma.org/object/31931): René Magritte, 1929, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (78.7)
- [Mama, Papa Is Wounded! (Maman, papa est blessé !)](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78701): Yves Tanguy, 1927, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (78.1936)

## Sources

- Dawn Ades, Photomontage (Thames & Hudson, 1976)
- Rosalind Krauss & Jane Livingston, L'Amour fou: Photography and Surrealism (1985)
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Surrealist Graphics”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism/