ART AND REVOLUTION. THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT IN LONDON

Abstract

The present article explains the birth and the origins of English surrealism. Barely studied from its beginnings, its incipient manifestations began with the exhibitions and manifestations organized in London by the Belgian gallerist and writer Édouard Mesens. With time, it acquired insular and specific connotations through the work of surrealist English and Welsh artists and writers in the interwar period. Roland Penrose, Eileen Agar, Paul Nash, David Gascoyne, Humphrey Jennings, among others, consider that Paris is the cradle of the highest and most revolutionary manifestations of art in all its forms in that period of tense peace. After an accidental encounter in Paris, Roland Penrose and Éduard Mesens decide to introduce the Surrealist movement in England in 1936. The personal relations of Éduard Mesens with André Breton, Paul Éluard and Roland Penrose appointed Mesens representative of the English surrealist movement as Director of the London Gallery and editor of the London Bulletin, the official publication of surrealism in London. The present article develops the relationship of all these literary and artistic manifestations and explains the connections between Belgian and English surrealism. It also analyzes and presents the work of the main artists, writers, and ideologues of English Surrealism. This constitutes the main and original contribution of this research paper.