A Masterpiece Exhibition from Rotterdam's Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Presenting materials and diverse works related to Surrealism

The Seoul Arts Center, in collaboration with the Kyunghyang Shinmun, Culture & I Leaders Co., Ltd., and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, is presenting 'Masters of Surrealism: A Masterpiece Exhibition from Rotterdam's Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen' (hereinafter the 'Masters of Surrealism' Exhibition) at the Hangaram Art Museum of the Seoul Arts Center through March 6.

The 'Masters of Surrealism' Exhibition showcases major works from the Netherlands' Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, which holds the largest collection of Surrealist works in all of Europe. Composed of works from the museum's 2017 exhibition 'A Dream Collection,' this exhibition introduces some 180 works by artists who represent Surrealism, including André Breton, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp.

This exhibition is organized around a total of six themes: △the Surrealist Revolution △Dada and Surrealism △Dreaming Thought △Chance and Irrationality △Desire △and Uncanny Familiarity. Through these thematic frameworks, it illuminates how Surrealism began, developed, and spread.

The exhibition helps visitors examine the full scope of Surrealism. Through widely known paintings and three-dimensional works—including André Breton's 'Surrealist Manifesto,' which marked the starting point of the Surrealist movement, René Magritte's 'The Forbidden Reproduction' and 'The Painted Youth,' Salvador Dalí's 'Couple with Their Heads Full of Clouds' and 'Impressions of Africa,' and Marcel Duchamp's 'Box in a Suitcase'—visitors can trace the origins and progression of Surrealism.

The 'Masters of Surrealism' Exhibition is designed to allow visitors to calmly encounter materials and diverse works related to Surrealism—rather than focusing on the works of any particular artist—in order to survey the anxiety and the sense of breakthrough of the era. Yoo In-taek, president of the Seoul Arts Center, said, "The world after World War I, where post-war misfortune and hope overlapped, strangely resembles the present as we recover our daily lives from COVID-19. I hope that this exhibition will serve as an opportunity for many citizens to feel a sense of everyday life as it was before COVID-19."

▲ Salvador Dalí, 'Couple with Their Heads Full of Clouds' (1936)



▲ René Magritte, 'The Painted Youth' (1937)