Goal
- Understand Surrealism as an art movement inspired by dreams, chance, and the unconscious.
- Look for hidden symbols and unexpected combinations of objects.
Beyond Reality: Surrealism in the 20th Century (Gallery 145 — brand-new gallery, first floor)
Tailleur pour dames, Remedios Varo, 1957, oil on board
Also on view in this gallery per MFA: works by Max Ernst, Jorge Camacho, Arshile Gorky, Matta, and Joan Miró (rotating loans — check current gallery labels for exact titles on your visit date).
Discussion
Find one object in a painting that doesn't belong in real life — what story do you think is happening around it?
Activity
Exquisite corpse (classic Surrealist game) — each student draws one part of a creature (head, body, legs) without seeing the others' drawings, then unfold to reveal a group "surrealist creature."
At-home project
Combine two unrelated objects into one drawing (like a "teapot-bird" or "shoe-house") the way Surrealist artists mixed dream logic with real objects.
Sources
Source: Modern Art · MFA Boston