Surrealism : First and Always

“Organisers say it is an unprecedented way to organise an exhibition: while some works and themes remain constant in each city, others change and each museum tells its own story. Perfect, then, for a movement that always aimed to subvert traditional artistic norms.” — The GuardianThe defining book for the centenary of Surrealism. From September 2024 to January 2025, the Centre Pompidou will celebrate the 100th anniversary of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto. For the next two years, their unprecedented Surrealist exhibition will tour the art galleries of the world, accompanied by this special catalogue. Perhaps more than any other artistic movement, Surrealism had a cataclysmic effect on the modern mind, changing forever the way we think about experiencing the world. By rejecting the gross linearity that typified several centuries of preceding artworks, the legendary Surrealists – Magritte, Ernst, Carrington, Dalí, Tanning and so many others – reached beyond the façade of that which is patently visible and found something more. Like the great works that fill its pages, Surrealism offers a departure from singletrack thinking, with a multi-directional layout and an uninhibited design. Featuring original essays from leading academics and excerpts from the Surrealist Manifesto itself, this stands among the most essential Surrealist catalogues ever published.