Salvador Dali and Yves Tanguy from Man Ray Portraits
100 Years of Surrealism: A Tribute to the Dreamers Who Rewrote Reality
It was in the black mirror of anarchism that surrealism first recognized itself.
-Andrè Breton
This year marks the centenary of Surrealism, a movement born from a radical vision: to pierce the veil of the everyday and expose the marvelous hidden beneath. What began in 1924 with André Breton’s Surrealist manifesto and definition, expanded quickly to include his and Philippe Soupault’s experiments in automatic writing—like The Magnetic Fields—and soon grew into a global revolution of thought, and artistic expression.
At its core, Surrealism was literary: a revolution of poets and dreamers. Paul Éluard, Robert Desnos, René Char, and Benjamin Péret each pushed language beyond reason, opening poetry to the unconscious, the erotic, the political. Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto didn’t just define a movement—it declared a new way of being.
But Surrealism was never confined to a single form or geography. Its spirit traveled—through exile, imagination, and shared revolt—and was transformed by visionary artists around the world. Women, long marginalized in official accounts, were always at its heart.
Leonora Carrington, whose fevered, mythic paintings and stories bridged Mexico and Europe, saw Surrealism not as theory but as personal and cosmic rebellion. Her brilliant and hilarious novel The Hearing Trumpet has been a longtime favorite at Book Beat. Carrington’s powerful memoir Down Below recounts her breakup with Max Ernst, her decent into madness, incarceration in a Spanish asylum, her escape, and transformation.
Other Surrealist women writers and artists include Remedios Varo, Dorothea Tanning, Toyen, Ithell Colquhoun, Lenor Fini, Frida Kahlo, and Unica Zürn, whose work reveals the movement’s dark, feminist, and transformative depths.
In the United States, Surrealism found new life through the radical activism and poetic vision of Franklin and Penelope Rosemont, who connected the movement with labor struggles, African American surrealist writers, and the 1960s counterculture. Their work ensured that Surrealism in America would be both a literary tradition and a revolutionary tool.
Here’s to 100 years of Surrealism!
During this centennial year several outstanding new works stand out for their timely reassessment of the movement and for shining a light on new research. Here is a list of noteworthy titles, first focusing on literature (poetry, prose, and manifestos), then recent titles, and a short section on visual artists that have shaped or reflected the movement’s evolution.
Before 1920 & Key Foundational Works
Bruges-la-Morte, (1892) a Symbolist novel by Georges Rodenbach recently reprinted, is often cited as a precursor to Surrealism due to its use of transmediality, exploring themes of decay and death, and its innovative blending of text and photography. While not directly a Surrealist work, it paved the way for Surrealist exploration of the subconscious and the blending of art forms.
Maldoror & the Complete Works of the Comte de Lautréamont (1860s) This text is often seen as a precursor to Surrealism due to its dream-like imagery, vivid and sometimes grotesque descriptions, and its exploration of the subconscious mind, which later became central themes in Surrealist art and literature.
Gérard de Nerval; Aurélia (1855) Nerval’s merging of dream and reality, madness and mysticism, made him a direct precursor. Breton called Aurélia one of Surrealism’s foundational texts.
Charles Baudelaire: Les Fleurs du mal (1857) Baudelaire’s exploration of beauty in decadence, the unconscious, and the macabre laid the groundwork for modernist aesthetics. His interest in dreams, altered states, and inner life helped bridge Romanticism and Symbolism, both key pre-Surrealist traditions.
Arthur Rimbaud; A Season in Hell (1873), Illuminations (1886) Rimbaud’s vision of the poet as a “seer” (voyant), his experimentation with language, and his efforts to derange the senses to access deeper truths were foundational for the Surrealists. His rebellious spirit and break with conventional reality aligned closely with Surrealist aims.
Magnetic Fields (1919) – André Breton & Philippe Soupault
The first example of automatic writing, this prose-poetry hybrid opens a door into the subconscious with dream logic and startling imagery.
Manifestoes of Surrealism (1924–1930) – André Breton
Breton’s fiery declarations define Surrealism as both a literary revolution and a philosophical stance, blending Freud, Marx, and poetic rebellion.
Nadja (1928) – André Breton
A semi-autobiographical novel chronicling Breton’s obsession with a mysterious woman; a haunting exploration of madness, love, and the surreal in everyday life.
Liberté ou l’amour! (1927) – Robert Desnos
A wildly erotic, poetic novel blending desire, humor, and Surrealist absurdity, censored in its day for its radical content.
Paris Peasant (1926) – Louis Aragon
A poetic, hallucinatory guide through the covered arcades and hidden corners of Paris, mixing documentary, reverie, and the uncanny.
Last Nights of Paris (1928) – Philippe Soupault
A haunting novel following a mysterious woman through fog-drenched streets; noir-tinged and dream-soaked, it captures Paris as a site of obsession and psychic wandering.
Capitale de la douleur\ Capital of Pain (1926) – Paul Éluard
A cornerstone of Surrealist poetry, where love and language dissolve boundaries between reality and dream.
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington (written in the 1950s, published posthumously in English in 1976) is Leonora Carrington’s only full-length novel—a surreal, darkly humorous, and wildly imaginative work of feminist fiction.
Recent Studies on Surrealism
Why Surrealism Matters (2024) by Mark Polizzotti “makes a convincing and enjoyable case. . . . Mr. Polizzotti carefully balances the movement’s aspirations and attainments against its flaws and contradictions, hoping to recuperate Surrealism’s ‘critical and imaginative essence’ for the present. . . . The best concise account of the movement available.”–Michael Saler, Wall Street Journal
Surreal Spaces: The Life and Art of Leonora Carrington (2024) written by the subjects cousin Joanna Moorhead, is an accessable and well illustrated volume that offers new information on the artist’s life. “Readers unfamiliar with the life, art, and writings of the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington will get an exceptional introduction in Surreal Spaces …. Carrington called surrealism the belief “that nothing is ordinary; that everything in life is extraordinary.” That spirit permeates every page of this handsome book.” -Shelf Awareness
“I couldn’t stand being a victim. I wanted to make my own world.”
—Leonora Carrington
Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement (2024) by Whitney Chadwick
Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement, now revised with a new foreword by art historian Dawn Ades, contains a wealth of extracts from unpublished writings and numerous illustrations never before reproduced. Since this book was first published, it has acquired the undeniable status of a classic among artists, art historians, critics, and cultural historians. It has inspired and necessitated a revision of the story of the Surrealist movement.
Surrealism and Anti-Fascism Anthology (2025) with Karin Althaus (Editor), Ara H Merjian (Editor), Matthias Muhling (Editor), et al. Surrealism and Anti-fascism provides a panoramic view of Surrealism’s opposition to fascism. Surrealists denounced European colonial policies, organized resistance to fascist governments and movements, fought for the Spanish Republic, were persecuted, escaped into exile and died in the war against the Nazis. Today, as fascist-adjacent regimes again begin to proliferate internationally, this volume, bringing together central texts of political Surrealism from the first manifestos to the present day, could not be more timely.
Magic Art by Andrè Breton (2025) Breton traces a mystery that lies at the heart of our timeless fascination with otherness and seeks to place Surrealism as a successor to a magical sensibility that began with art itself. First published in 1957 as L’Art magique, this important text is offered here as an English translation for the first time. Included for the first time are dozens of fascinating letters and essays by renowned authors and artists in answer to Breton’s survey questions on magic and art.
Leonora Carrington
And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur
1953
Visual Arts
The Photographs of Man Ray 1920-1934 Man Ray, a pivotal figure in Surrealism and photography, significantly impacted both movements by pushing the boundaries of photographic techniques and incorporating surrealist principles into his work. He created surreal, irrational images through rayographs and solarization.
Undercover Surrealism: Georges Bataille and DOCUMENTS by Dawn Ades (Editor), Simon Baker (Editor) Featuring 180 color images and translations of original texts from DOCUMENTS accompanied by essays and shorter descriptive texts, Undercover Surrealism recreates and recontextualizes Bataille’s still unsettling approach to culture. Putting Picasso’s Three Dancers back into its original context of sex, sacrifice, and violence, for example, then juxtaposing it with images of gang wars, tribal masks, voodoo ritual, Hollywood musicals, and jazz, makes the urgency and excitement of Bataille’s radical ideas startlingly vivid to a twenty-first-century reader.
Max Ernst plate from Une Semaine de Bonte, 1934
Une Semaine de Bonté A Surrealistic Novel in Collage (1934) by Max Ernst
Une Semaine De Bonté first appeared in 1934 in a series of five pamphlets of fewer than 1,000 copies each, and has never been reprinted before this present edition. Previously available only to a few libraries and collectors, this is a major source and great treat for anyone interested in the surrealists and their work, in collage, visual illusion, dream visions, and the interpretations of dreams.
“Art is the revelation of nature’s darkest secrets, those that remain hidden beneath the everyday appearance.”
-Max Ernst
Books above are available in store at Book Beat and also linked to our affiliate page at Bookshop.org. Out-of-print titles are available online at our backroom gallery. Here are two more Surrealist book catalogs we posted on Bookshop, happy browsing!
Surrealism at 100: Major Exhibitions in 2025
As Surrealism marks its centenary, 2025 offers several significant exhibitions that highlight both its historical depth and ongoing influence. These exhibitions present unique opportunities to engage with the movement’s legacy and the many ways it continues to shape contemporary thought and visual culture.
“Surrealism(s) – Then & Now” and “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver”
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
January 22 – June 1, 2025
This dual presentation explores the origins and continued relevance of Surrealist thought. “Surrealism(s)” traces the movement from its early 20th-century beginnings to its impact on current artistic practices, while “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver” focuses on one of Surrealism’s most distinctive voices, offering over thirty works that span her six-decade career.
“Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds”
Tate St Ives and Tate Britain, United Kingdom
February – October 2025
This comprehensive exhibition brings renewed attention to Ithell Colquhoun, a key yet often overlooked British Surrealist. The show includes over 200 works and examines her engagement with themes of sexuality, mysticism, ecology, and the occult.
“Imagine! 100 Years of Surrealism” – Touring Exhibition
Hamburger Kunsthalle (Germany), Fundación Mapfre (Madrid), Philadelphia Museum of Art (USA, 2026)
2025–2026
Organized by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, this international exhibition presents a wide-ranging survey of Surrealism’s origins, development, and lasting global resonance. It is a landmark project commemorating the movement’s centennial.
These exhibitions offer insights into the history of Surrealism and the diverse directions it has taken over the past century. For those interested in the intersections of art, literature, and the unconscious, they represent essential viewing.