Ingrid Pfeiffer

Founded by French writer and poet André Breton in 1924, surrealism was an artistic and literary cultural movement known for its visual art and writings that challenged the power of imagination. But it has been an artistic movement most associated with the famous men who've become household names in art, such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. Yet, there were many more surrealist women artists than has been recognized--until now. Seeking to present the female perspective of the women artists of surrealism, Fantastic Women highlights this forgotten side of the avant-garde movement. Even though most women of the movement were considered to be the partners or models of Breton's circle, they actually played a larger role. While male surrealists chose to portray women as goddesses, she-devils, dolls, fetishes, nymphets, or imaginary figures, the female artists emphasized the unexpected influences of established gender roles and social behaviors. Their art questioned the female image and role in society while attempting to establish a new persona for generations to come. In true surrealist form, Fantastic Women highlights their creative engagement with the imagination and the unconscious through their fascination with political topics, literature, and foreign myths. Including 350 color plates, Fantastic Women showcases their paintings, drawings, photography, films, and other artworks that create a powerful case for the recognition and celebration of the surreal and fanciful work of the women artists of the avant-garde.

Surreal Worlds from Meret Oppenheim to Louise Bourgeois

Fantastic Women

Max Hollein

Removed from the glamour of Paris during the French Belle Époque, the village-like district of Montmartre offered a bohemian refuge for many poets and artists. Esprit Montmartre explores this rich period of artistic production, its sociopolitical contexts and how they continue to influence the image of the artist and his subjects today. 0Exhibition: Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany (07.02.-01.06.2014).

Bohemian Life in Paris Around 1900

Esprit Montmartre

From the glamour of the Golden Twenties to the depths of the dark side of a world undergoing rapid change - the penetrating content of works by more than 60 artists recreates the age of the Weimar Republic, big - city life and the entertainment scene as well as the consequences of the First World War and socially controversial topics such as prostitution, political struggle and social tensions. As the first German democracy, the Weimar Republic (1918 - 1933) is regarded as a time of crisis and transition - from the German Empire to the totalitarian regime of National Socialism. Numerous artists not only portrayed these years in their realistic representations, which are ironical and grotesque as well as critical - analytical; they also aimed to comment on the stat us quo and bring about social change. Works from Otto Dix and George Grosz via Conrad Felixmuller and Christian Schad to Dodo, Jeanne Mammen, Elfriede Lohse - Wachtler, famous artists and others waiting to be rediscovered, paint a multi - layered and political picture of the Weimar Republic.

Glanz und Elend in Der Weimarer Republik

Karoline Hille

The first monograph to focus exclusively on the three-dimensional works by the Surrealists. More than 50 artists of the period are represented, including familiar names such as Duchamp, Magritte and Picasso, as well as many artists whose striking works are yet to be discovered by a wider public.

Ingrid Pfeiffer

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