Monsters & Myths: Transatlantic Surrealism in the 1930s and 1940s

FAIN: GI-261050-18

Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD 21218-3898)
Oliver Shell (Project Director: January 2018 to October 2022)

Implementation of a traveling exhibition, public programs, and a catalog exploring the impact of war and transatlantic exchange on the art of surrealists during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (WAMA) are co-organizing Monsters & Myths: Trans-Atlantic Surrealism in the 1930s and 1940s (Monsters & Myths)—the first major exhibition to focus on the relationship between Surrealism and war in both Europe and America. From the rise of totalitarianism during the 1930s, through the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939), until the end of World War II (1939--1945), Surrealist artists produced profoundly affecting images that responded in complex ways to the turbulent times. Forced into flight and exile, many carried these images with them as they sought refuge in the New World. The exhibition will feature 90 objects—the experimental range as well as the international scope of Surrealist art produced in these years will be presented with new scholarship and associated interpretive programming.

Associated Products

Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s (Exhibition)
Title: Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s
Curator: Dr. Oliver Shell
Curator: Dr. Oliver Tostmann
Abstract: Nearly 90 Surrealist masterworks of the 1930s and 1940s by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, and André Masson are presented through a timely lens—that of war, violence, and exile. Despite the political and personal turmoil brought on by the Spanish Civil War and World War II, avant-garde artists in Europe and those who sought refuge in the United States pushed themselves to create some of the most potent and striking images of the Surrealist movement. Monstrosities in the real world bred monsters in paintings and sculpture, on film, and in the pages of journals and artists’ books, resulting in a period of extraordinary creativity.
Year: 2018

Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s (Book)
Title: Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s
Author: Dr. Oliver Shell
Author: Dr. Oliver Tostmann
Author: Dr. Robin Adèle Greeley
Author: Dr. Samantha Kavky
Editor: Dr. Oliver Shell
Editor: Dr. Oliver Tostmann
Abstract: During the pivotal years between the world wars, Surrealist artists on both sides of the Atlantic responded through their works to the rise of Hitler and the spread of Fascism in Europe, resulting in a period of surprising brilliance and fertility. Monstrosities in the real world bred monsters in paintings and sculpture, on film, and in the pages of journals and artists' books. Despite the political and personal turmoil brought on by the Spanish Civil War and World War II, avant-garde artists in Europe and those who sought refuge in the United States pushed themselves to create some of the most potent and striking images of the Surrealist movement. Trailblazing essays by four experts in the field trace the experimental and international extent of Surrealist art during these years--and, perhaps most unexpectedly of all, its irrepressible beauty.
Year: 2018
Access Model: Available for purchase; suggested retail $50 USD
Publisher: Rizzoli Electa
Type: Multi-author monograph
ISBN: 978-0-8478-631
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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