This quiz addresses the requirements of the National Curriculum KS3 in Art and Design for children aged 11 to 14 in years 7 to 9. Specifically this quiz is aimed at the section dealing with understanding art movements and their influence on the world, and it focusses in particular on Surrealism and the Surrealist Movement.
In KS3 children will learn how to critically appraise historical works of art, as well as understand the influence ancient movements have had on art today.
Surrealism was possibly the defining art movement to take place between the two world wars. It was started by Andre Breton in around 1920 and came as a direct result of the influence of Dadaism. Dadaism was a form of anti-art that deliberately defied reason. Dadaism was also aimed at negative form and subject, whereas the Surrealist movement had as their main aim to be a more positive expressive art form.
Initially Surrealism consisted of a series of journals and poetry but went on to include many different art forms including poetry and literature. It attempted to throw off the confinements of contemporary culture and looked to shock and rebuke the conventional notions of reality. The unconscious played a large role in Surrealist works and one of the main and recurring themes was to try to create images of such unconscious worlds and fuel them with the animal desire that lies in each of us.