SURREALISM IN ART Page: 4
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Surrealism in Art:
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 PLATE 2 Bo- Yin-Ra
But others have resented the times. They refuse to conform, inviting starvation. Still others, good, bad, and mediocre craftsmen, have constituted a large, discontented, and protesting class who continue to paint as they desire, placing the onus of nonacceptance upon a presumed unsympathetic and ignorant public. Among them there are undoubtedly some who possess real ability, but there are also many who would probably fare little better in any other occupation. But this unrest may in particular instances stimulate invention and progress.
It is from this independent, defiant, reclusive section that a movement came into life shortly after the First World War. The name Dada was assumed, suggesting partly the nonserious attitude of the world toward it. As in all movements there were included a number of able individuals. In many respects the group disdained the opinion of the world and perhaps in defense sought to poke fun at the world. The more serious devotees attempted graphic satire of the times: its capitalistic insecurity, its social artificiality, its grim posing of forces. Some of the creations, on the other hand, dealt with trivialities.
Dada is related to three other movements that feature the independence and free will of the creative artist. Expressionism is the more general movement--it may endure. Surrealism and Superrealism are the others. Expressionism, as the word itself suggests, takes the position that the best art productivity is that coming from the depths of the individual's own experience or, more properly, his reaction to such experience. The position apparently ignores the logical implication that if literally followed any art product so conceived would be of primary interest to its own creator and to him alone. As a matter of practical fact, though, the Expressionist is saved from this exigency by painting themes that are found not only in his experience but in comparable fashion in the experience of many others. Hence the strong point of Expressionism is likewise a cardinal point in the philosophy of Regionalism, namely, that by turning his attention to those objects of experience that he meets with most often and in the most effective manner, the artist will, other things being equal, be most successful in handling them.
The second feature of Expressionism is freedom from tradition and current practices. The Expressionist may, if he sees some derived benefit, paint in large, crude forms suggestive of children's drawings. If he choses to be diagrammatic or to inform in any manner, that he regards as his prerogative. This license has not deterred contemporary Expressionists from attempting to paint personal experiences--emotional flights, boyhood memories, and the like. No one may question the right of the Expressionist to attempt intensely personalized experiences as thematic material for his paintings; when the experience happens to coincide with the general experience of others, a meritorious product may ensue if the quality of the production is reasonably high. But if the inspiration (stimulus from personal experience or memory) is too completely individual, then the product will usually be for the creator's own personal enjoyment. Not many artists can sustain themselves on that type of satisfaction alone, nor will any beneficent government feel constrained to support them. Any venture away from tradition and current ideology assumes a tremendous burden: it says in effect that its point of view is right; that others have been less intelligent in seeing the light. If Expressionism be taken to refer merely to an insistence upon accurate experience, individually interpreted, leaving wide options in the matter of development of the experience, and giving due cognizance to the wealth of ideas and suggestions that tradition (conserved experience) offers, then Expressionism is sound.
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