Surrealist automatism
Surrealist automatism is a method of art-making in which the artist suppresses conscious control over the making process, allowing the unconscious mind to have great sway. It was popularized in the early 1920s by André Masson and Hans Arp, and it became the foundation André Breton claimed for Surrealism itself in his 1924 manifesto, which defines the movement as "pure psychic automatism". In practice it ranges from rapid automatic drawing and writing to chance-driven techniques such as frottage (rubbing), grattage (scraping), and decalcomania (pressed paint), and to Masson's sand drawings made without looking at the support. The goal is not randomness for its own sake but access to imagery that conscious intention would censor. The method shaped Joan Miró's painting and later fed into Abstract Expressionist improvisation.
Defining characteristics
- Rapid, unplanned marks made before the conscious mind can intervene
- Flowing, biomorphic forms and hybrid creatures emerging from free association
- Chance processes: rubbings, scrapings, and pressed-paint textures (frottage, grattage, decalcomania)
- Uneven, searching line that records the movement of the hand
- Compositions without a preconceived subject or settled arrangement
Key figures
- André Masson (1896-1987) — Pioneer of automatic drawing and sand paintings made without conscious control
- Hans Arp (1886-1966) — Early popularizer of chance-based and automatic collage
- André Breton (1896-1966) — Codified "pure psychic automatism" in the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto
- Joan Miró (1893-1983) — Turned automatist sketches into large, luminous paintings
Example works
- Automatic Drawing — André Masson (1924)
- Battle of Fishes — André Masson (1926)
Sources
- Surrealist automatism - Wikipedia encyclopedia