Dada and Surrealism: Rethinking Reason
Teaching Gallery
The devastation wrought by World War I led to virulent critiques of reason, progress, and a kind of nationalism that had used technology to mostly destructive ends. International Dada movements during the War, and Surrealism in the postwar period, were central to these critiques. For this Teaching Gallery exhibition, over a dozen Dada and Surrealist artworks from the collections of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum and Olin Library’s Department of Special Collections will be on view. Artists represented include Man Ray, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso. The selected works illustrate the range of strategies used to explore the irrational, fantastic, and absurd in the twentieth century, innovations that revolutionized artistic practices in Europe and the US.
This Teaching Gallery exhibition is organized by Stamos Metzidakis, professor of French and comparative literature, and John Klein, associate professor of art history, in conjunction with their course “Dada and Surrealism: Rethinking Reason,” offered by Washington University’s Comparative Literature program and the Department of Art History & Archaeology in spring 2011.
Selected works
![4282.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/4282.jpg)
Roberto Matta
Untitled
1945![1990_13_3C.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1990_13_3C.tif.jpg)
Man Ray
The Father of Mona Lisa, from S.M.S. No. 3
1967![1990_13_2E.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1990_13_2E.tif.jpg)
Meret Oppenheim
The Mirror of Genoveva, from S.M.S. No. 2
1967![1990_13_1K_i.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1990_13_1K_i.jpg)
Julien Levy
Pharmaceuticals, from S.M.S. No. 1
1968![1990_13_1K_ii-vi.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1990_13_1K_ii-vi.jpg)
Julien Levy
Pharmaceuticals, from S.M.S. No. 1
1968![1987_7.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1980_1989/1987_7.jpg)
André Masson
Composition
1967![3788.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/3788.tif.jpg)
Roberto Matta
Lambeaux Iron-Oniriques (Iron-Oneiric Scraps)
1942![4027.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/4027.tif.jpg)
Roberto Matta
Glimmer of Violence
1958![3848.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/3848.tif.jpg)
William Baziotes
Night Form
1947![4130.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/4130.tif.jpg)
Joan Miró
Peinture (Painting)
1925![1991_25_12.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1991_25_12.jpg)
Salvador Dalí
King of Diamonds, from the Playing Card Suite
1971![1991_25_13.jpg](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1991_25_13.jpg)
Salvador Dalí
Ace of Diamonds, from the Playing Card Suite
1971![3796.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_0_4571/3796.tif.jpg)
Pablo Picasso
Le combat dans l’arène (Combat in the Arena)
1937![1999_01.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1999_01.tif.jpg)
Joan Miró
Plate 6 from Série noire et rouge (Black and Red Series)
1938![1999_02.tif](https://kemper.qi-cms.com/website/media/w800/permanent_1990_1999/1999_02.tif.jpg)
Joan Miró
Plate 8 from Série noire et rouge (Black and Red Series)
1938Teaching Gallery
The Teaching Gallery is a space in the Kemper Art Museum dedicated to presenting works from the Museum's collection with direct connections to Washington University courses. Teaching Gallery installations are intended to serve as parallel classrooms and can be used to supplement courses through object-based inquiry, research, and learning. Learn more