The Lives of the Surrealists

No other art movement in history has contained two artists as different as Magritte and Miró. This is because Surrealism was not in origin an art movement, but a philosophical strategy. It was a way of life – a rebellion against the establishment that had given the world the hideous slaughter of the First World War. Instead of trying to analyse the work of the Surrealists, bestselling author and Surrealist artist Desmond Morris concentrates on them as people – as remarkable individuals. What were their personalities, their predilections, their character strengths and flaws? Did they enjoy a social life or were they loners? Were they bold eccentrics or timid recluses?

Drawing on the author’s personal knowledge of the Surrealists, this book captures their life histories, idiosyncrasies and often-complex love lives, vividly illustrated with images of the artists and their works. The arts of Surrealism were both spectacular and international, shaped by the darkest, most irrational workings of the unconscious. Shocking, witty and always entertaining, Morris’ tales illuminate the striking variation in approaches to the Surrealist philosophy, both in the artist’s work and in their lives.

Table of Contents

Foreword • Introduction • Eileen Agar • Jean (Hans) Arp • Francis Bacon • Hans Bellmer
Victor Brauner • André Breton • Alexander Calder • Leonora Carrington • Giorgio de
Chirico • Salvador Dalí • Paul Delvaux • Marcel Duchamp • Max Ernst • Leonor Fini •
Wilhelm Freddie • Alberto Giacometti • Arshile Gorky • Wifredo Lam • Conroy Maddox
René Magritte • André Masson • Roberto Matta • Edouard Mesens • Joan Miró • Meret
Oppenheim • Wolfgang Paalen • Roland Penrose • Pablo Picasso • Man Ray • Yves
Tanguy • Dorothea Tanning • Major Surrealist Group Exhibitions