The Frist Art Museum presents “International Surrealism from Tate: Fifty Years of Dreams,” an exhibition that investigates the global appeal of surrealism and how it has widely influenced culture and society over the last century through the work of artists including (alphabetically) Eileen Agar, Louise Bourgeois, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Yves Tanguy, and Dorothea Tanning. Drawn from the Tate collection, UK, the exhibition of approximately 125 works focuses on the long trajectory and broad reach of surrealism as a state of mind through a captivating selection of film, paintings, photographs, sculpture, and other art objects, as well as publications and archival material, and will be on view in the Frist’s Ingram Galleries from May 22 through August 30, 2026.
“One of the great attractions of surrealism was its internationalism,” writes Matthew Gale, exhibition curator and former Tate senior curator at large. “In an era of violent nationalism, the recognition of a global association of like-minded creators was a lifeline, at different times connecting artists and writers in New York and Santiago de Chile, Paris and Prague, Mexico City, and Tokyo.”
The exhibition is presented just over a century after the first exhibition of surrealism, in Paris in November 1925, following the publication of André Breton’s “Surrealist Manifesto” and Louis Aragon’s “A Wave of Dreams” a year earlier. The surrealists were inspired by the theories of Viennese psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who proposed the existence of the unconscious, a part of the mind containing emotions and impulses that are censored by the conscious mind. Breton’s philosophy of surrealism, though initially attracting writers and poets, was soon adopted by visual artists.
“Surrealists embraced the unknown and mysterious, depicted and interpreted dreams, found inspiration in nature and unexpected aspects of the everyday, and explored the ‘mad love’ of unleashed passions,” writes Gale. Along with their pursuits of personal freedom and the liberation of the mind, the surrealists also allied themselves with leftist politics in opposition to growing totalitarianism in Europe between the world wars. “They rejected authoritarianism, colonialism with its repression and exploitation, and the inequalities embedded in capitalism,” Gale explains. “With its dual focus on individual freedom and social and political change, surrealism attracted many artists, writers, and intellectuals worldwide for decades after its initial appearance.”
Key themes anchor the exhibition’s six loose, transhistorical sections. “Automatism: Angel Images” exemplifies attempts to produce works “automatically” — free from conscious control and self-censorship; artists like Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, and Judit Reigl. “Politics: Public Thirst” focuses on social and political liberty as essential for personal and creative freedom.
Sigmund Freud’s theories about the influence of repressed desires permeated surrealist practices, and the section “Dreams: The Reckless Sleeper” explores how artists were interested in the unrestrained creativity of the unconscious mind. “Desires: Sleeping Venus” explores the surrealists’ focus on love and sexual freedom. For many surrealists, nature was stimulating in both its destruction and abundance, as can be seen in “Uncanny Nature: The Invisibles.” “Objects: The Future of Statues” includes provocative “surrealist objects.”
Learn more about this fascinating exhibition, and others at the Frist website: https://fristartmuseum.org/
