Surrealism, Then and Now

About the Class

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of surrealism, the global movement that upended the art establishment by championing the free play of the unconscious and the imagination. Coinciding with the Philadelphia Art Museum’s showing of the landmark traveling exhibition Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100, this class explores the work of the poets, thinkers, and artists who pioneered surrealism and considers the movement’s international expansion over decades. We’ll evaluate the movement’s success as an ideology, a political project, and an aesthetic revolution. Did surrealism fulfill its ambitions to transform the real? What can we learn today from a movement that mobilized art toward total liberation?

The class is online-only. More about online classes.

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Barnes classes will:

• Sharpen your observational and critical thinking skills.
• Improve your ability to communicate about art.
• Deepen your appreciation for cultures and histories outside your own.

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