Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire.

Faculty of Film Art and Creative Technologies.

Lesley-Ann Daly

Design for Stage and Screen

The Appropriation of Surrealism as an

Aesthetic for Consumption.

Submitted to the Department of Design and Visual Arts in candidacy

For the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Design for Stage and Screen

Faculty of Film Art and Creative Technologies

2013
This dissertation is submitted by the undersigned to the Institute of Art Design and

Technology, Dun Laoghaire in partial fulfilment for the BA (Hons) in Design for

Stage and Screen. It is entirely the author’s own work, except where noted, and

has not been submitted for an award from this or any other educational institution.

Signed : Lesley-Ann Daly

1|Page
 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Elaine Sisson for all her help with researching my

dissertation, and all the advice along the way. I would also like to thank the

librarians in IADT and the Cluain Mhuire campus of GMIT for all their assistance.

2|Page
 Abstract

Fashion and Advertising today is full of juxtaposed images, which are awash

with bizarre absurdity. Through years of experience the media has appropriated the

style of Surrealism and used it to influence how and what we consumers buy. This

dissertation will explore the origins of Surrealism and its original intentions. Then

elaborate on how the movements’ politically and socially charged agenda was

intentionally ignored, and the imagery was re-appropriated for use in the media. It

will deconstruct how these commodified images have been drained of any radical

meaning, leaving the public to adore Surrealisms style over substance.

The works of Surrealists Salvador Dalí and René Magritte contributed to the

rise in popularity of the fine art work of the movement. The artists also assisted in

the popularisation of the commercialised Surrealist imagery among the public. This

dissertation analyses the differences in how each artist’s work was recuperated and

subsumed into visual culture. Attributing this to either the engulfing nature of the

Spectacle, or through the changing nature of the production of works of art at the

time.

3|Page
 Table of Content

Page

Acknowledgements 2

Abstract 3

List of Images 5

Introduction 7

Chapter 1: Breaking the fixed limits of discursive reason 11

Chapter 2: Disassociating Image and Text 20

Chapter 3: The Insecure boundary between Fashion and Art: 32

Dalí in Vogue

Conclusion 44

Works Cited 46

4|Page
 List of Images

Page

Figure 1: André Breton in a photo booth with glasses, circa 1928 12

Source: Digital Image. www.ffffound.com

Figure 2 : Colour lithograph for Festival mondial du Film et des Beaux-

21
Arts Bruxelles 1947, by René Magritte.

Source: Print. Ollinger-Zinque, Giséle and Frederik Leen. Magritte 1898-

1967. Michigan: Ludion Press, 1998. Pg. 317

Figure 3: The Interpretation of Dreams, 1930. By René Magritte

24
Source: Print Ibid. pg.25

Figure 4: Les Mots et les images. By René Magritte in a 1929 issue of La

25
Révolution surréaliste.

Source : Print. Gablik, Suzi. Magritte. London: Thames and Hudson,

1970. Pg 138

Figure 5: 'Lemon' advertising for the Volkswagen Beetle 1960, by Doyle

28
Dane Bernbach

Source: Digital Image. www.writingfordesigners.com

Figure 6: Vogue cover June 1st 1939, by Salvador Dalí.

35
Source: Digital Image. Vogue Archive http://search.proquest.com/vogue

5|Page
Figure 7: Woman with a Head of Roses, 1935. By Salvador Dalí 37
Source : www.icollector.com

Figure 8: 'Bureau Drawer' suit by Schiaparelli and Dalí, 1938.

40
Photography by Cecíl Beaton in Vogue

Source: Digital Image. Vogue Archive http://search.proquest.com/vogue

Figure 9: Front cover of Minotaure, June 1936. Illustration by Salvador

42
Dalí

Source: Digital Image. www.wikipaintings.org

6|Page
 Introduction

The Volkswagen Beetle was advertised in the 1960’s using such witty terms

as ‘Lemon’, ‘Think Small’ or ’It makes your house look bigger’. This ad campaign

topped Ad Age Advertising’s top 100 Campaigns1 of the century, beating for the top

spot (in order) Coca Cola, Marlboro, Nike and McDonalds. These were

uncomplicated print ads that simply consisted of a picture of the car with a short

statement beneath, or even just a single word. So what was it about this ad series

that made it stand out from those produced by the other multinational companies,

and secured its place in advertising history?

When Andre Breton first released the ‘Manifesto of Surrealism’2 in 1924, he

intended for it to influence the mass public and inform them of the underlying

purpose that each Surrealist artists’ work would be created from. The manifesto

defines Surrealism as "Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes

to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner -- the

actual functioning of thought. Dictated by the thought, in the absence of any control

exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern."3 Through

language and cultural barriers (resulting from having to translate the text from

French, and taking it out of the context of the French paradigm of the time) his word

got lost, or intentionally neglected, leaving commodity culture – a culture that must

impose a regulated ‘value’ onto goods or products to ascertain their worth giving

them a social place relative to other commodities - to adore Surrealism’s style over

its substance.

1
Garfeild, Bob. Ad Age Advertising Century: The Top 100 Campaigns. Advertising Age. 29 Mar. 1999.
2
Breton, A, 1969. Manifestoes of Surrealism. 1st ed. USA: The University of Michigan Press.
3
Ibid.

7|Page
 The fact was that Surrealist themes lent themselves to commercialisation – it

“precipitated its own commodification through both its thematic preoccupations and

formal developments”4. Breton struggled against what seemed to be an inevitable

progression of art into mass media, while other artists within the movement

recognised the fields’ potential and exploited its lucrative opportunities. The

Surrealist ‘objet’ came to the forefront as a new medium of expression based on

Hegelian dialectics (the merging of a thesis and a contradictory anti-thesis, to create

a final coherent thesis or ‘synthesis’). The objects were formed using the

characteristics which came to be associated with Surrealism such as; unexpected

juxtapositions, displacements and fetishisation. These characteristics created the

popular and recognisable Surrealist style. Surrealist style carried through into the

worlds of advertising and fashion design, a mise-en-scene that was very much “in

Vogue”5 during the 1930’s and early 1940’s.

This dissertation examines how the style of Surrealism was appropriated into

consumer culture in America during the rise of its popularity, from approximately the

1920’s until the late 1960’s, and was used as a medium to create and sell products

to the masses. I am specifically looking at the appropriation of Surrealism into

fashion and advertising, and how the works of Salvador Dalí and René Magritte

were recuperated into these areas, respectively.

Chapter 1 explores what the Surrealist movement (particularly the work of

André Breton) detailed as the key influences and motives that were the foundation

for Surrealist thought. The ‘Manifesto of Surrealism’6 details how Dada influenced

the movement, the importance of the dream state, and how the ideas within the

document can be applied to real life circumstances not just literature and art. This

4
Wood, G, 2007. Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. 1st ed. London: V&A Publications. Pg. 8
5
Vogue Magazine documents the rise and fall of admired fashions and people leading to the
expression to annotate something that has mass popularity at a given time – ‘In Vogue’.
6
Op. Cit

8|Page
document was to be accessible not just to artists and critics, but also to the general

public, through extracts published in acclaimed journals and magazines available for

popular consumption, such as ‘View’ Magazine and ‘La Revolution surrealisté’. The

text was to serve as an information reservoir rather than a guideline or road map for

how Surrealism was to proceed. So to understand how Surrealism was portrayed

and subsequently misunderstood by the world at large, one must first understand

how it was intended to be perceived. This document will be summarized to show the

conflicting attributes of the profound politically and psychologically charged agenda

within the movement.

The invention of PR came about around the same time as the manifesto was

being published, ushering in a new era of advertising and mass media. Therefore as

the popularity of Surrealism was on the rise so was the business of advertising, led

by Sigmund Freud’s’ nephew, Edward Bernays. Chapter 1 will continue on from the

manifesto to elaborate on how Bernays appropriated his uncles’ ideas of

unconscious desire into the promotion of product and branding, in this new age of

spectacle.

As advertisers want to create eye-catching, memorable images it is

important to use something novel – something new and unusual, as it is more likely

to be recalled than something expected or redundant. The dreamlike images of the

Surrealist movement play perfectly into the wishes of the advertising companies

who want to catch the “customers’ attention, to fuel their fantasies and to induce

them into view a product in a new light.”7The Surrealist painter René Magritte spent

a substantial portion of his fine-art career investigating the link between image and

text, a primary consideration of illustrators when developing advertisements. The

radical images of Magritte were recuperated by advertisers who exploited his style,

and inverted his methodology to create effective adverts. In Chapter 2 I will be

7
Ibid., p.51

9|Page
looking at the appropriation of Surrealism into advertising and why it was, and still

is, an apt style to “foster purchase intentions”.8 By deconstructing the work and

methods of Magritte I will ascertain the fundamental elements that link into

advertising theory and practise. Using this information I will then relate it to the

popular 1960’s series of adverts for the Volkswagen Beetle, a retake on Magrittes’

juxtaposed images and text.

Freud’s work on the unconscious played an integral part in influencing the

illusionist branch of Surrealism, headed up by arguably the most famous disciple of

the movement, Salvador Dalí. His dreamlike aesthetic and magnetic public persona

gave rise to the most recognisable and memorable imagery that came from the

period. His awareness of the publics’ perception of him aided him in manipulating

his work into ‘spectacle’. In collaboration with fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli he

re-appropriated the ‘marvellous’, making ‘the fantastic real’ using the body as the

primary agent in commodifying the Surrealist style. In Chapter 3 I will be

documenting and examining commercial work by Dalí, and the products of his

alliance with Schiaparelli, that appear in Vogue magazine, approximately between

1935-1940. Parallels will be drawn between his fine art work and his commercial

endeavours, assessing the appropriation of the radical images to commodities.

8
Homer, P.M and Kahle, L.R, 1986. A Social Adaption Explanation of the Effects of Surrealism on
Advertising. Journal of Advertising, Vol.15, No.2, 53.

10 | P a g e
 Chapter 1

Breaking the fixed limits of discursive reason

In reaction to World War 1 there came about Dadaism – a strong revolt

against the horror of war and the propaganda that it utilised to influence the public9.

From this disdain there was born the practise of anti-art. This was the leader of the

Dada movement Tristan Tzaras’ gift to a world, that could execute such

monstrosities, that he believed were undeserving of art and beauty10. However,

against the purpose of the movement the intentionally offensive, anti-aesthetic, anti-

art became art. In fact the rebellious attack against the new industrial commercial

world was thoroughly popular with the bourgeoisie, particularly in Paris – when

Tzara was invited to France by André Breton he found the movement was greeted

with great enthusiasm11- a fate that was not reserved solely for just this artistic

movement.

Akin to Dadaism, Surrealism was also conceived from distaste of rationalism

- the theory that the exercise of reason, rather than experience, authority, or spiritual

revelation, provides the primary basis for knowledge - and the realistic attitude

which “clearly seems to be hostile to any intellectual or moral advancement.”12

However, there was a vast disparity in style between the two movements as

Surrealism was paying tribute to the old, masterful techniques that Dada had

rejected. The fusion of the condemnation of Western logic and reason, and the

political ideas of Karl Marx, coupled with the psychoanalytical theories on the

9
Radford, R, 1997. Dali. 1st ed. London: Phaidon Press
10
Dada and Surrealism in Oxford Art Online. 2012. Dada and Surrealism in Oxford Art Online.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/public/page/themes/dadaandsurrealism.
11
Dada to Pop. 2012. Dada to Pop. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.patrickaievoli.com/balmndsite/dtp.html.
12
Breton, A, 1969. Manifestoes of Surrealism. 1st ed. USA: The University of Michigan Press.

11 | P a g e
Figure 1: André Breton in a photo booth with glasses, circa 1928

12 | P a g e
unconscious by Sigmund Freud amalgamated to create the driving force behind the

movement13. Arguably, none were more aware of, or vocal about the power of this

unification of ideas than the writer and trained psychiatrist André Breton (Fig. 1). In

1924 he formally established the Surrealist movement with the publication of the

‘Manifesto of Surrealism’ – although the term ‘Surrealist’ was first coined by

Guillaume Apollinaire in notes for the ballet Parade in 1917. The document “codified

ideas that had been in gestation for up to half a decade”14 by the most readily

accessible means of expression of freedom: - written word. Breton was an optimist,

who believed that he could reach the public through his words. That Surrealism

would blossom, not because of the manifesto itself, but because of the reaction, or

response, that it would solicit in its readers.

The manifesto begins by awakening the reader to mans’ own circumscribed

reality. The banal activities that “he henceforth belongs body and soul to, an

imperative practical necessity which demands his constant attention”.15 This

inveterate existence he attributes to the rational, “fixed limits of discursive reason”16

of the realist attitude that advocates mediocrity, stultifying both art and science. The

view is reinforced by the citation of a remarkably descriptive and clichéd extract

from Dostoevski’s Crime and Punishment, which aptly illustrates how imagination

has been negated and left redundant in novels being published at the time. This self

explanatory nature of text (or art work in a different medium) was one issue that

surrealists strived against, believing instead in a materialist attitude that discovers

truth through imagination. Breton thought that society saw any “search for truth

which is not in conformance with accepted practises17” as forbidden. In his striving

13
Bradley, F., 1997. Surrealism: Movements in Modern Art. 1st ed. London: Tate Gallery Publishing
14
Matthews, J. H., 1975. Fifty Years Later: The Manifesto of Surrealism. Twentieth Century
Literature, Essays on Surrealism, (Vol. 21, No. 1), p. 2.
15
Op. cit, Breton, A.
16
Gauss, C. E., 1943. The Theoretical Backgrounds of Surrealism. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, (Vol. 2, No. 8), p. 37.
17
Op. cit, Breton, A.

13 | P a g e
for the marvellous; he would focus on the unfamiliar practise of the unlocking of the

unconscious mind, more specifically the dream state. He believed that if society

gave the same credence to dreams as they did to waking events (reality), that they

would then be able to metamorphose the two contradictory states “into a kind of

absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak”.18 Preventing this transmutation

was: both societies need to make the unknown known, to classify it; and the lack of

a designated, accepted means of accurately recording these unconscious events.

To make these dream states reputable public perception must change, to view

dreams as more than just excerpts of life but as of equal importance to reality, and

even as a well of knowledge that may inform everyday waking events.

“The marvellous was thought to occur naturally in spaces where the curse of

reason had yet to penetrate: in childhood, madness, sleeplessness and drug-

induced hallucination”.19 Breton first became aware of the accessibility of the

marvellous when lying in bed, not yet asleep. An insistent phrase came to him

“There is a man cut in two by the window” accompanied by a faint corresponding

image (the phrase taking precedence due to his predisposition as a writer). The

phrase astounded him he writes in the manifesto. This was the mere tip of the

proverbial iceberg as this was followed by a plethora of words and phrases that

inundated his mind. Here was the key point at which he realised the infinite

possibilities that harnessing the unconscious mind could provide. He shared this

free flowing thought-writing with to-be fellow surrealist Philippe Soupault. The two

minds then subsequently proceeded to blacked pages. The process entailed rapid

writing that defied the restrictive intervention of conscious critical faculties, leaving

errors uncorrected, a system as close to the speed of thought as mobility would

allow. In a re-reading of the pages the pair were struck by the “extreme degree of

18
Op. cit. Breton, A.
19
Op. cit. Bradley, F. p 7

14 | P a g e
immediate absurdity”.20 The absurdity achieved led them to “baptise the new mode

of pure expression….Surrealism”,21 later renaming the thought-writing as automatic-

writing, or automatism. This automatism would prove to be hugely influential in the

creation of work by many surrealist artists including Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and

Jean Arp. The Manifesto defines Surrealism as:

SURREALISM, n. Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to

express – verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner – the

actual functioning of thought. Dictated by the thought, in absence of any control

exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.

Breton believed in using surrealism in every aspect of creative life, and he

practised what he preached. Leading by example he constructed the manifesto in

homage to such methods. When the document was dissected and analysed by

Robert Champigny,22 he exposed that there were breaks of logical sequence, which

consequentially showed that it was never meant to be a logical argument or a

persuasive deduction. Cleverly Breton had formulated the piece this way. For

Breton there was no need to justify his ideas, no need of a supporting argument to

bolster their validity – surrealist ideas were self-evident and incontrovertible -

“language has been given to man so that he may make surrealist use of it”.23

Though true that he upheld his own surrealist beliefs when writing the

manifesto, it is also true that the composition of the manifesto (and other surrealist

documents such as the journal La Révolution surréaliste) was quite logical. The

grammatical sentence structure was correct. It had a formal layout, contradicting

Bretons’ belief that “language employed only within reasonable bounds is language

20
Op. cit. Breton, A.
21
Ibid.
22
French poet, critic, and philosopher.
23
Op. cit. Breton, A.

15 | P a g e
misapplied”.24 The very nature of the manifesto, the need to define surrealism and

explicate its’ methods and reasoning, goes against claims of being anti-tradition,

whether intentional or not. This self-definition according to Paul Mann, in The

Theory-Death of the Avant-Garde, is a necessity for all movements to find their

place in the relative social strata - “for members of any given movement definition is

partly a matter of publicity or propaganda….all such definitions are essentially

strategic, means of positioning a movement in relation to real or potential allies,

enemies, patrons, critics etc”.25 It appears that instead of severing the movement

from tradition, that Breton was creating surrealisms’ own traditions and history –

meticulously listing an inventory of those who he believed were precursors of the

movement, though they did not know themselves to be part of it at their respective

times “Swift is a Surrealist in malice, Sade is a Surrealist in sadism……….I could

say the same of a number of philosophers and painters, including….Ucello….

Moreau, Matisse…..Derain, Picasso….Duchamp….Chirico….May Ray….Masson”26

and so on. Though he also judges some of these, unknowing, Surrealist ancestors

for merely the look of their resulting work pertaining to the movement: implying that

their methods were less than palatable for a ‘true’ Surrealist.

Perforating the pages of the manifesto are comments, by Breton, that would

indicate his disinterest in how future surrealists, or appropriators of surrealism,

create and display their work, “I hasten to add that future Surrealist techniques do

not interest me”27, “Such and such an image, by which he deems it opportune to

indicate his progress and which may result, perhaps, in his receiving public acclaim,

is to me, I must confess, a matter of complete indifference”.28 On the contrary, over

the course of time, it became blatantly apparent that he is not in fact indifferent to

24
Op, cit. Matthews, J. H.
25
Mann, P., 1991. The Theory-Death of the Avant-Garde. 1st ed. USA: Indiana University Press. p. 8
26
Op, cit. Breton, A.
27
Ibid
28
Ibid

16 | P a g e
the future techniques of surrealists. In actuality, the instances of Breton expelling

members of the group for actions that he does not deem complicit to the surrealist

methodology is well documented – for example Salvador Dalí (or Avida Dollars as

he had come to be known) was expelled in 1939 due to his commercialism, among

other things29. Breton made clear his wish to form some sort of discernible identifier

of true Surrealist work (such as a seal or stamp), particularly in regards to the

surrealist ‘objet’. At a lecture given in Prague in 1935 he proposed: “we would like to

establish a strict demarcation line between what is surrealist in its essence and what

attempts to pass as such, for reasons of publicity or whatever”.30 The proposed

tagging of an object, painting, poem, or other art work - ‘This is a Surrealist Object’ –

in 1935, is a far cry from his consent, in 1924, to let any man by which ever path he

deemed appropriate, to create what he sees as surrealist without fear of

chastisement.

Running parallel in time to the rise of Surrealism and the manifesto being

published, was the birth of Personal Relations (PR). Edward Bernays had created

this new form of business in reaction to the psychoanalytical work of his uncle

Sigmund Freud. Freud’s investigation into the unconscious and its hidden desires

had an altogether different effect on his nephew than it had on Breton. Instead of

concentrating on the dream state, as Breton and the Surrealists had, Bernays was

more concerned with soothing the barbaric nature of one’s Id.31 It was believed at

the time that repressed violent feelings of the everyday American had been brought

back to the surface by the war32. Bernays sought to soothe these dangerous forces

within by satisfying the inner impulses and desires of the person – a fulfilment

through having. He believed the way to achieve this was “conscious and intelligent

29
Orban, C. E., 1997. The Culture of Fragments: Word and Images in Futurism and Surrealism. 1st ed.
Atlanta: Rodopi. p. 85
30
Hultén, P., 1990. The Surrealist Look at Art. 1st ed. Venice: The Lapis Press. p. 161
31
A Freudian term denoting the primitive, unorganised and emotional part of the unconscious mind
– with a want for instant gratification/pleasure.
32
“The engineering of Consent.” Narr. Adam Curtis. The Century of the Self. BBC Television.

17 | P a g e
manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses”.33 By manipulating

the hidden person within one would not only be able to create the ideal citizen, but

also the ideal consumer.34

Bernays in the 1920’s was the first person to link products to unconscious

desires. Through strategic advertising one could subliminally persuade, or influence,

a consumer to buy a particular product by: linking the product to their unconscious

desires; and creating a sense of commonality, that if they were to buy the product

they would become part of a wider community; or enticing a belief that the product

will somehow improve the consumers self image. The popularity of Bernays’ PR

grew, along with the psychoanalytical work of his uncle, proving profitable and

effective with regard to the products it was being used with at the time35. This

moneymaking potential caused companies across America to employ

psychoanalysts, otherwise known as ‘depth boys’36, to ascertain and exploit the

buyers’ hidden emotions regarding to their product. From the household essentials

to luxury items (such as perfume, fashionable clothing, cigarettes and automobiles)

appropriate marketing strategies could be used to make these items out to be

necessities.

This was the new era of the Spectacle37 - or mass media at “its most glaring

superficial manifestation”.38 Where industrial America was once concerned with how

much a worker can produce, it was now concerned with how much he can

consume. Through advertising the primary needs of a consumer were pushed aside

and replaced by pseudo-needs. Aptly articulated by British designer Raymond

33
Bernays, E, 1928. ‘Propoganda’. Michigan: H. Liveright. p. 10
34
Ibid. Curtis, A
35
Bernays first great accomplishment was making women smoking in public socially acceptable, by
fostering the belief that these ‘torches of freedom’ will give the woman more power and
independence. As a result the sale of cigarettes to women grew dramatically.
36
Op cit. Curtis, A
37
Debord, G, 1983. ‘The Society of the Spectacle’. Detroit: Red and Black.
38
Ibid. 24

18 | P a g e
Hawkey an advertisement relies on “being able to tell their audience what it wishes

to believe – that the solution to its particular political, professional, domestic or

sexual problem is relatively easy, inexpensive, and guaranteed. If the audience has

no problem it must be given one.”39 ”Mediated by images”40 the public was given the

problem of never having enough. The spectacle had created the problem and

subsequently resolved it by inundating the public with spectacle.

39
Hawkey, R, 1952. ‘Advertising: The Skeleton in the Consumers Cupboard’. Ark, no.5. p. 8
40
Op cit. Debord, G.

19 | P a g e
 Chapter 2

Disassociating Image and Text

Print advertisements, in the 1920’s, were the most widely available and

effective means for companies to advertise their products, reaching the highest

percentage of consumers. The aim of these ads - of all ads - was (and still is) to

create a link between text (brand, slogan) and image (product, logo). The resulting

advertisement became a sign, made up of signifier (the form that the sign takes –

the image) and signified (the concept that it represents – the text).41 Together the

text and image become symbolic of the product, ideally becoming a ubiquitous sign

of the product that consumers will associate with the advert. For example if one

were to show an image of a white tick (signifier), it would be easily recognised as

the logo of the brand name Nike (sign), and the phrase ‘Just Do It’ (signified). Just

as effortlessly ‘Just Do It’ could be written out and the same link would be made

back to the brand, Nike. The signifier and signified work together to unconsciously

create a link to the brand name and create an overall brand image that is specific to

the product. This combination has resulted in an advertising campaign wherein its

elements when viewed separately cannot be mentally separated from each other.

This is ideal in the sphere of advertisement.

The Surrealist painter René Magritte had a relatively unknown stint in the

advertising business during his early art career. He designed adverts for a variety of

clients ranging from parfumeurs (Perfumes by Mem), cigarette companies (Boule

d’Or) and created posters for the Belgian Film Festival (Fig.2).

41
Based on the Theory of the Sign as proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure in ‘Cour de Linguistique
générale’. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1990.

20 | P a g e
Figure 2: Colour lithograph for Festival mondial du Film et des Beaux-Arts Bruxelles 1947, by René Magritte.

21 | P a g e
 Magritte was one of the first to use Surrealism in advertising, staying true to

his bold, representational style of painting objects which he would place in unusual

settings. By borrowing these objects from reality and resituating them in a field

outside of their power, he gave the object (product, signifier) a new context. He

would pair the image with the brand name (signified) to create the advertisement.

This new take on adverts was striking. With the strange placements of banal objects

gave them a sense of charm that would aid in selling the product.42

Magritte made no secret of the fact that this career in advertising was merely

a means of obtaining sufficient capital in order to fund his ‘real’ work, “Applied art

kills pure art, in order to survive, many artists waste their time on the production of

applied art object which are sold on a large scale. The mediocre works tend to

satisfy the aesthetic needs of mankind. People therefore lose interest in the pure

works of art of those artists to the extent that they become unsaleable.”43 I believe

that this sums up quite aptly what was to happen to other Surrealist artists who

ventured in the realm of art in mass media with the intent of exploiting it for

monetary gain, to the detriment of their fine art work; this will be elaborated upon in

the next chapter.

Magritte was also adverse to the notion of illustration believing that it was

based on a humiliating sub ordinance of image to text.44 From the late 1920’s he

began the exploration of freeing the constraint between image and text. Based on

Saussures’ two part model of the sign, he sought to show that there is no

discernible link between signifier and signified. For example: the sign ‘weed’ - its

signifier the phonetic [wi:d], the signified the description ‘wild plant growing where it

42
Roque, Georges. “The Advertising of Magritte.” Graphic Design History. Ed. Steven Hiller and
Georgette Balance. New York: Allworth Press, 2001.
43
Blavier, A (ed.), 1979. Ecrits Complets. Paris: Flammarion. P. 18.
44
Ollinger-Zinque, G and Frederik Leen, 1998. Magritte 1898-1967. Michigan: Ludion. P. 34

22 | P a g e
is not wanted’.45 The signifier and signified have nothing in common, no reason to

derive one from the other. The only thing linking [wi:d] to the description is an

agreement of meaning, this meaning causes weed to become a sign. Seeing no

logic in this semiotic convention Magritte sought to illustrate that anything can be

called by any name, and anything can become a sign.

In a series of paintings entitled ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ (1927-1930)

Magritte created a grid of images each with a caption underneath. However, these

words did not correspond rationally with the image above it, e.g. an image of a

bowler hat was labelled La Neige (snow), and no combination of the words and

images on the pieces would form rational links (Fig. 3). In the Surrealist magazine

La Révolution surréaliste, in 1929, Magritte published ‘Les Mots et les images’46 a

document explaining the possible variations in relationship between words and

images (Fig. 4). Magrittes’ fine art work of disassociating images from words also

extended to his paintings and their titles. He deliberately gave his paintings titles

that were of no relevance to what the image was actually representing, knowing that

the viewer would naively try to derive some sort of meaning or link between the text

and image. “The titles of my pictures are only a conversational convenience, they

are not explanations’47; one of such paintings is ‘State of Grace’ which depicts the

juxtaposition of a bicycle perched on a giant cigar.

Magritte was taking banal images and placing them in different contexts or

juxtaposing them with disparately opposing objects. The dream-like images he

created were in keeping with the Surrealist ideas of Breton, and were successfully

radical and forward thinking for the time. His work seems to resemble the idea of

45
Ibid. p. 31
46
Magritte, René. “Les Mots et les images". La Révolution surréaliste. 15 Dec. 1929. Pp. 32,33.
47
Magritte, René, 1943. “René Magritte ou les Images défendues” Les Auteurs associés. Brussels.

23 | P a g e
Figure 3: The Interpretation of Dreams, 1930. By René Magritte

24 | P a g e
Figure 4: Les Mots et les images. By René Magritte in a 1929 issue of La Révolution surréaliste.

25 | P a g e
Minor Détournement that Guy Debord speaks of in ‘The Society of the Spectacle’48.

Magritte’s’ mimicry of a familiar image of little prior importance, (such as a pipe), put

into a new context with new radical intentions, (to upturn the public’s perception of

reality and representation), gives the image new meaning. Though contrary to the

spectacle’s version of this, Magritte did not create ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ with the

intention of it being a commodity. Little did Magritte know that his radical imagery

throughout his oeuvre would be the ideal template for advertisers to use to sell their

products. The very establishment that he detested would recognise the potential in

his work, recuperating his radical ideas into commodities to promote mass media.

The ad men who were appropriating Magrittes’ images were not members

of the Surrealist movement, and one can assume that they had not read Breton’s

‘Manifesto of Surrealism’ or had any intention of doing so. In business the only

paper they concerned themselves with was money, and by exploiting the popularity

of Surrealism they were able to cash in by using its style. The very ideas that

Magritte used to undermine the relationship between text and image, was what

made his images ideal for advertising – an industry that was chiefly concerned with

the relationship between text and image. By not giving his paintings a specific

meaning, he rendered the images ambiguous. ‘Since his images are not linked to a

single explanation or interpretation, all explanations and interpretations become

possible’.49 With no definite meaning illustrators could easily appropriate the images

and add a slogan or brand to them, giving them a new intended meaning. According

to Magritte ‘the perfect painting produces an intense effect in a very short time’50,

this instant impact was also ideal for advertisers who wanted their advert to make

an impression on the viewer when even just glanced at.

48
Op cit. Debord, G.
49
Op cit. Roque, G. p. 225
50
Ibid.

26 | P a g e
 So advertisers reinstated the bond between image and text that Magritte had

worked so hard to sever. The ‘depth boys’ would be called in to insert a witty phrase

or meaningful statement, to accompany the readymade signifier. This phrase

needed to be well thought out, creating a link to the consumers’ unconscious

desires. An apt example of Magrittes ideas being recuperated is the series of

Volkswagen Beetle print adverts from the 1960’s, by Doyle Dane Bernbach. The

advertising team used the conceptual ‘big idea’ method, popular in advertising at the

time, ‘short ironic conversational headlines were juxtaposed with provocative

images, drawing on the lessons of Surrealism, and particularly Magritte.

Unexpected combinations of image and/or contexts created ambiguity and

surprise’.51 This time the illustrators were mimicking Magrittes use of image and text

by placing words such as ‘lemon’ under a picture of the car (depicted in a realist

style analogous to Magritte’s’ work), which was alienated from its habitual context

(Fig. 5). The composition of the image not unlike one of the grid squares in

Magritte’s. By this time Surrealist adverts had become common place and

recognisable to the consumer. So due to Surrealisms established cultural image

(dream images, juxtaposition etc) the viewer was able to assume a link between the

image and text, not expecting a logical answer for the puzzling juxtaposition.

The ‘Lemon’ advert, and the other adverts in the series, used an honest and

charming humour that would correspond to the honest and charming car. Though

the word ‘lemon’ (signifier) may seem to have no link to a picture of a Beetle

(signified), it was in fact was a reference to the cars appearance. Humour continued

through the slogans including ‘Think small’ which was accompanied with a

particularly tiny picture of the car, and ‘Will we ever kill the bug?’ underneath an

image of the car upturned (mimicking that of an actual bug). Even the use of the

51
McCoy, Katherine. “American Graphic Design Expression: The Evolution of American Typography”.
Graphic Design History. Ed. Steven Hiller and Georgette Balance. New York: Allworth Press, 2001.

27 | P a g e
Figure 5: 'Lemon' advertising for the Volkswagen Beetle 1960, by Doyle Dane Bernbach

28 | P a g e
white page was to highlight the simplicity and minimalism of the car. Automobile

brands had previously marketed cars as ‘symbols of male sexuality’52, playing on

mens unconscious desire for power and sexual dominance, emphasizing size and

luxury. Here DDB instead emphasised the compact size, affordability and reliability

of the Beetle. In a society obsessed by money and a desire for getting your money’s

worth, the advert aimed at the consumers’ intelligence, reassuring them of the

benefits this reliable little bug would bring to their life. This series of adverts

achieved great success during the 1960’s and is still considered to be one of the

best of the 20th Century.53

In 1986 an article was published in the Journal of Advertising that sought to

determine how and why Surrealism was effective in advertisements, as empirical

investigations of its impact was unexplored up to this point. ’A Social Adaption

explanation of the effects of Surrealism on Advertising’ 54 by Pamela M. Homer and

Lynn R. Kahle dissects the convention of using Surrealistic images for advertising

products, also carrying out a case study to ascertain statistical results and

conclusions. The article concluded that the combination of Surrealism and priming

(presenting subjects with statements leading them to expect further exposure to

product related attributes) should ‘interactively foster purchase intentions’.55 The

article details the main reason behind Surrealisms’ effectiveness to be related to

Social Adaption Theory.56 In an abridged form this theory can be described as such:

a person seeks equilibrium in an environment, assimilating new materials into

existing schemata, while also interpreting new information (creating unconscious

links between images and text e.g. one sees a physical chair and mentally labels it

to be a chair). Once the individual decides that a certain piece of information is

52
“Happiness Machines.” Narr. Adam Curtis. The Century of the Self. BBC Television
53
Garfeild, Bob. Ad Age Advertising Century: The Top 100 Campaigns. Advertising Age. 29 Mar. 1999.
54
Op cit. Homer, P and Kahle, L.
55
Ibid. p. 53
56
Ibid. p. 52

29 | P a g e
adapted (unconsciously agrees that the chair is/ is called a chair) the individual

stops processing it and moves onto another piece of information. In regards to

Surrealist images they cannot be processed (easily), because the image doesn’t

make sense, it does not fit into existing mental structures. Therefore more time is

spent trying to process the image/ looking at or thinking about the image.

So let’s take the ‘Lemon’ advert as an example and apply this theory. One

can deduct that the juxtaposition of the image and non corresponding text would

cause the viewer to have to spend time trying to form a link between the two, and

assimilating it into an existing schemata. The advert gets processed more

extensively as it is more difficult to comprehend, leading to more elaborate internal

processing. The extra attention given to the advert, along with the elongated period

the consumer spends with it results in overall increased brand recall. Increased

brand recall in theory leads to increased probability of purchase, making the

Surrealist style of this advert an effective means of promoting a product, i.e. the

Volkswagen Beetle.

One can see the theory that Surrealism is successful in advertising again in

the 2000 article in the Journal of Advertising by Leopold Arias-Bolzmann, Goutam

Chakraborty and John C. Mowen, ‘Effects of Absurdity in Advertsing: The

Moderating Role of Product Category Attitude and the Mediating Role of Cognitive

Responses’.57 For the purpose of the paper “we define absurdity as the incongruous

juxtaposition of pictorial images that viewers perceive as irrational, bizarre and

disordered’58 splitting the term ‘absurd’ into four forms: Surrealism;

anthropomorphism (refers to an interpretation of what is not human or personal in

57
Arias-Bolzmann, Leopold, Goutam Chakraborty and John C. Mowen, 2000. Effects of Absurdity in
Advertsing: The Moderating Role of Product Category Attitude and the Mediating Role of Cognitive
Responses. Journal of Advertising. (Vol.29, No.1)
58
Ibid. p. 37

30 | P a g e
terms of human or personal characteristics); allegory (the description of something

under the veiled pretence of something else); and hyperbole (or humour -

something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing). In this article they also

take humour into account as an effective means of improving a consumers’ attitude

to an advert, and therefore consequentially to the product or brand. The test carried

out in the article (testing the effectiveness of surrealistic-absurd ads and non-absurd

ads, using wine coolers as the product) concludes that absurdity in advertising is

especially effective on improving brand attitude among non-users of a product or

those with a prior negative attitude to the brand.

Take this article conclusion into account, again in reference to the

surrealistic series of Volkswagen Beetle adverts. Consider that at the time the

German car was little known in America, and could induce a negative attitude from

the American consumer with little time having elapsed since the end of the Second

World War. Uniting humour and surrealism as a strategy of promotion, both

influenced a greater positive response to and a higher brand recall for the brand and

product.

In the next chapter I will be looking at Salvador Dalí and Vogue magazine as

products. I will look at how the two interacted with each other to promote

themselves and subsequently the other also.

31 | P a g e
 Chapter 3

The Insecure boundary between Fashion and Art: Dalí

in Vogue

In and around 1929, the time of the Second Manifesto of Surrealism, the

Spaniard Salvador Dalí was the apple of André Bretons’ eye, representing a new,

younger wave of Surrealist artists. Breton refers to ‘the art of Dalí, the most

hallucinatory to date ever to be known, constitutes a veritable menace’59. The ideal

for Breton was an aesthetic of the unconscious, but he imposed limits to this

aesthetic; not allowing lack of control that could unleash the full, potentially alarming

results of the enterprise. Dalí saw this constraint and pushed against it, reminding

him of the restrictions placed on him by his family60, he preferred a full, untamed

realisation of Surrealism. A chasm grew between Dalí and the ‘boss’, Breton, who

grew impatient and enraged towards Dalí’s intentional disdain for the laws of the

movement,61 laws that Breton himself had formed and intended on keeping upheld

by those who followed the movement/him. The insolence, along with what appeared

to the group as fascism (his fascination with Hitler), and commercial participation

triggered Breton to expel Dalí from the group. However, Breton could not keep Dalí

from partaking in assemblies of the group, such as exhibitions, as he knew that they

needed the publicity created by Dali’s magnetic public persona.

59
Breton, A, 1969. ‘Second Manifesto of Surrealism’ in Manifestoes of Surrealism. 1st ed. USA: The
University of Michigan Press.
60
Descharnes, R. and Gilles Nerét, 1993. Salvador Dalí 1904-1989. Koln: Taschen.
61
This tension came to a head when Dalí was asked to appear before the group to answer to
accusations regarding his apparent love of Hitler: Dalí mocked Breton causing Breton to expel “are
you going to keep getting on our nerves much longer with you Hitler?!”, to which Dalí replied “if I
dream tonight that you and I are making love, I shall paint our best positions in the greatest of detail
”
first thing in the morning

32 | P a g e
 Dalí became the new face of the avant-garde, known just as widely for his

lunatic antics as for his paintings. France had frowned upon the recent Surrealist

exhibitions (such as: The First International Surrealist Exhibition held at the New

Burlington Gallery in London, June 1936; the New York Museum of Modern Art

show titled Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, in December 1936; and the

International Surrealist Exhibition at the Beaux-Arts Galerie in Paris, January 1938),

making it clear the hostile outrage it directed at the absurd concoctions created by

the members of the movement. America and its adoring public, on the other hand,

were more accepting of these frivolous displays of madness, granting them a

jester’s licence to amuse. Dalí was drawn to ‘the idea of America, its fantasies, its

excess, its innocence – and above all, its money’, and also the fact that it

represented ‘the newly emerging power of the mass media’.62 European

intelligentsia – the writers and the critics – saw this new global mass culture as

capitalism trying to dominate society, an attempt ‘to lull the latent sense of

discontent among the masses through seductive and mentally soporific

entertainment.’63 Alternatively, Dalí saw it as more of a saviour for the ignorantly

content, boring and stupid ‘realist world’, claiming that they were desperately looking

for a way to ‘keep them from sinking forever into that thick leaden sea which is the

everyday”64. Elaborated here in this rather narcissistic comment in relation to his

‘Soft Self-Portrait with Fried Bacon’ “As the most generous of all painters I

continuously offer myself as food and thus give our era the most delicious

delicacies,”65 he offered up himself to the public for mass digestion.

According to Dalí’s biographers, Robert Descharnes and Gilles Néret66, Dalí

thrived in the snobbery of the bourgeoisie, attending parties held by the social elite.

62
Radford, R, 1997. Dali. 1st ed. London: Phaidon Press. p 197
63
Ibid. p 197
64
Op. cit. Radford, R. Quote of Dalí
65
Ibid. Quote of Dalí
66
Op. cit. Descharnes, R and Gilles Néret

33 | P a g e
He was both fascinated by and in contempt of the wealthy; in this he saw the irony

of the situation and exploited it. He played his part at the high society soirées, witty

and mad, entertaining those who were in attendance. It is here that he encountered

the insecure boundary between fashion and art. Dalí was drawn to fashion, he saw

it as rooted in fantasy with contempt for reason; ‘he understood its eroticism and

displacement of erotic form in exotic detail and styling’.67

The cover image of a magazine is designed to entice the consumer,

seducing them with “intensity, urgency and promise of instant gratification”.68 It

becomes something quite sexual; the signifier (image) designed to connect to the

unconscious desire for beauty and to be loved. In general, therefore, magazines

(especially women’s fashion magazine) have generally opted to depict “real” women

on their cover, and when possible an actual photograph rather than a painting. As

noted by Rick Poynor, “photographs showing real, though idealised, people as role

models are inherently more coercive and anxiety forming for the viewer than

charmingly stylised representations created by hand”.69 This is because the

consumer finds the image of a real person more relatable, whereas they are

unconsciously aware that the painted image is not a real person, they are inherently

surreal in that they never have, or will, exist. The woman on the cover represents an

ideal image, one that its female readers will aspire to, though they subconsciously

grasp that they will never be like that woman on the cover.

In 1939, while immersed in the world of fashion, Dalí was given the honour

of creating a Vogue cover. (Fig. 6) The caption for the cover image reading

‘Symbols by Salvador Dalí, the fantastic Surrealist: flowers for the beauty of women,

skipping figure for the remembrance of her childhood, a skeleton ship for the

67
Op. cit. Radford, R. p 170
68
Poynor, Rick, 2006. “This Month’s Cover”. Designing Pornotopia. London: Lawrence King. p. 32
69
Poynor, Rick, 2006. “A World Without Ads”. Designing Pornotopia. London: Lawrence King. p. 53

34 | P a g e
Figure 6: Vogue cover June 1st 1939, by Dalí.

35 | P a g e
sadness of things past.’70 A typical Dalian image, with its barren, dream-like

landscape, a woman with a bouquet of roses in place of her head, two women both

draped in flowing couture – immediately recognisable as from the hand of the

madman. Dalí’s surreal creation was a relatively unusual choice as an image for the

cover of a women’s fashion magazine. It would have been common to see extreme

close-up or head and shoulders representations of smiling, beautiful women

adorning the page. The faceless women, depicted at a greater distance, in a barren

landscape, accompanied by a skeletal ship certainly weren’t in accordance with the

other magazine covers that would have accompanied it on the shop shelved. The

painterly nature of the women, and considering that they were devoid of

countenance (face or facial expression), meant that this “ideal” person became even

further detached from that of the reader. Though unconventional, it still contained

signifier and signified, interacting to make an attention grabbing sign – a necessity

for a literary piece with such a short life span. The same principles that work for

surrealistic, or absurd, advertising can be related to a magazine cover, the only

difference being that the magazine is selling itself rather than a separate product.

So what this edition of Vogue lacked in seductiveness it made up in increased

internal processing by the consumer due to its surrealistic nature.

In contrast to the work of Magritte, however, Dalí had recuperated his own

work, draining it of its radical nature and re-appropriating it into mass media. The

cover image is not dissimilar to an earlier painting of his ‘Woman with a Head of

Roses’, 1935. (Fig. 7) The 1935 painting was full of dream imagery, with the

juxtaposition of the woman and the bouquet of roses, and the displaced hands

gripping at her waist and arms. By Dalí recycling this image he renders it more

docile, in doing so it also becomes more acceptable to the public. The more the

social significance of an art (or art piece) diminishes, and becomes conventional,

70
Woolman Chase, E, 1939. Vogue Cover. Vogue, 1 June. p C1

36 | P a g e
Figure 7: Woman with a Head of Roses, 1935. By Salvador Dalí

37 | P a g e
the more it is enjoyed without criticism.71 There was a pattern emerging with Dalí’s

work from the mid 1930’s onwards, he was becoming repetitive. The repetition was

akin to American advertising and branding, with the same images constantly

appearing. Dalí was creating his own trademark, or brand, gaining loyal customers.

During the 1940’s, this repetitiveness caused his images to lose their novelty and

weirdness, Dalí’s artwork had become predictable.72

This predictability contradicts one of the fundamental elements of Surrealism

that made it so effective for advertising - the fact that something novel is more likely

to be recalled compared to something expected and redundant. So as Magritte said

“applied art kills pure art”73, by Dalí creating mediocre work to impress the public he

had caused the public to lose interest, and was resigned to the fate of becoming

“unsaleable”74. As we know now Dalí is still considered a hugely influential painter

and his work is still highly sought after, so he may not have suffered a fate as

extreme as Magritte had anticipated, but he and his work certainly took a drop in

demand after the 1940’s.

Surrealist fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli, used her clothing designs to

liberate the human form – her clothes ‘spoke of cultural knowledge, erotic drama

and social and sexual freedom’.75 Surrealism appropriated fashion due to its fetishtic

qualities and sexual symbolism, providing a powerful metaphor, this distinct look

gave Schiaparelli a star studded clientele eager to gild themselves with the eye-

catching, tongue tantalising couture.76 According to gallery owner Julien Levy,

Schiaparelli was the only person, in his mind, who was able to successfully interpret

71
Benjamin, Walter, 2008. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin.
P. 26
72
Op. cit. Eggener, Keith L.
73
Op. cit. René Magritte Ecrits complets. p. 18
74
Ibid. p. 18
75
Ibid, Wood, G. p 128
76
Such as: Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn

38 | P a g e
Surrealism into fashion77. In ‘The Psychology of Clothes’, J. C. Flugel states

‘Schiaparelli perhaps more than any other designer understood the commercial

pulling power of the Surrealist trope’.78 Aiding her in her interpretation was painter

Salvador Dalí, who also had dress designing experience due to his ballets and work

with Vogue magazine. Together they transformed the 2D surrealist drawings into 3D

surrealist objects, full of sexual connotations, most with little regard for subtlety.

‘Through Schiaparelli and Dalí’s work, the body was refashioned as surrealism and

surrealism was subsumed in the cultural mainstream’.79

The pair fashioned many notable and influential pieces. The 1938 suit jacket

with pink embroidered lips on the pockets captured the Surrealist convention of

fragmenting the body. This jacket drew parallels to vaginal imagery and no doubt

referenced Dalí’s ‘Mae West Lip sofas’ that furnished Schiaparelli’s shop. The

phallic looking ‘Shoe Hat’ (though Tristan Tzara saw the hat as representative of

female genitalia, opposing the Freudian view80 that it was representative of male

genitalia) was worn in accompaniment to the “Lips” jacket. This was a pertinent

example of how the Surrealist object takes an ‘objet trouvé’ out of its original context

and places a new meaning on it. The ‘Skeleton Dress’ of the 1938 Circus Collection,

was born from Dalí’s obsession with corporeality. The artist often drew skeletal

figures which were then realised in the soft bone structures of this skin-tight black

silk jersey dress. The model wore a faux anatomy made possible by the innovative

construction techniques of Schiaparelli. The fake ‘Tear Dress’ also from the Circus

Collection was a realisation of several of Dalí’s paintings including ‘Three young

women holding in their arms the skins of an orchestra’. This dress dissolves the

boundary between clothing and body, with the torn animal skin print appearing to

reveal a magenta under layer. The ‘Lobster Dress’ in 1937, used the erotic

77
Op. it. Wood, G.
78
Flugel, J. C, 1950. The Psychology of Clothes. 2nd ed. Michigan: AMS Press. p 62
79
Wood, G, 2007. The Surreal Body: Fetish and Fashion. 1st ed. London: V&A Publications. p 64
80
Freud, S, 1997. The Interpretation of Dreams. London: Wordsworth.

39 | P a g e
Figure 8: 'Bureau Drawer' suit by Schiaparelli and Dalí, 1938. Photography by Cecíl Beaton

40 | P a g e
symbolism of the lobster, which was positioned on the crotch area of an otherwise

white, virginal dress.81

As with Surrealist art, the Surrealist symbolism of Schiaparelli’s work was

lost when the original garments were copied and mass produced. The best example

of this being her, and Dalí’s, suit with ‘Bureau Drawer’ pockets, which was adapted

for mass production by the American department store Bergdorf Goodman. The suit

with the Freudian drawers (to the unconscious) was altered in a small but crucial

way, omitting the one detail that provided its context – the buttons that replicated

black plastic drop handles. However ‘Its Surrealist source was made explicit in Cecil

Beaton’s photographs of the original ensemble for the September 1938 issue of

Vogue’.82 The photo placed two models in an arid landscape, both covering their

facial features, one holding the June 15th 1936 issue of the Surrealist journal

Minotaure, on which Dalí had illustrated the cover. (Fig. 9) The woman/minotaur on

the cover has an open drawer on her chest, referencing that of the suit, and her red

talon nails also alluding to Schiaparelli’s iconic black gloves with red leather nails,

which were worn by the models.

This surrealist image on the cover of Minotaure had been replicated and

recuperated not once but twice by the fashion industry. First Dalí replicated his

previous work, causing another artwork of his to lose cultural significance by his

own hand (and that of Schiaparelli’s). In this instance the piece kept intact some of

its radical intentions due to the garments unexpectedness in the world of fashion.

The work was then recuperated by the department store Bergdorf Goodman, who

further anaesthetised the surrealist imagery leading to a rather unexciting, ‘normal’

suit. This poses the question, though; is it worse to drain the ‘marvellous’ and the

radicalism from an art piece by someone else’s hand or through your own accord?

81
This eroticism was probably lost on its wearer, Wallis Simpson the soon to be Duchess of Windsor.
82
Wood, G, 2007. Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. 1st ed. London: V&A Publications. p 153

41 | P a g e
Figure 9: Front cover of Minotaure, June 1936. Illustration by Salvador Dalí

42 | P a g e
For Magritte he had no control over how his work was re-appropriated, but Dalí did,

and he did it intentionally and knowingly. For Magritte his work became a lasting

template for advertising and graphic design, with no detriment to his own ‘real’ art.

Whereas Dalí, who re-appropriated his own work for fame and fortune, found his

time in the lime light ever dwindling.

The ever increasing mass media led to an infinitely increasing amount of

work being published, through newspapers, magazines and advertisements. The

rate of work being produced for commodification was outstripping the amount of

talented people producing work83. The media had to compensate by recuperating

the works of talented men, such as Dalí, creating multiples of the art to fill the

space. This led to the appropriation of Dalí’s popular ideas and styles by advertisers

and companies who were trying to appease the appetites of the ever hungry

consumer. This ravenous public, and its pseudo-needs, needed to be guided. The

agency of the discerning buyer was manipulated and directed to what the spectacle

determined that it should desire. The masses found its answers through the media,

such as Vogue magazine; the shiny advertisements and catchy phrases instructing

them with exactly what to buy to sooth their unconscious. The spectacle created this

appetite for consumption; it gave the public the material to consume, which

influenced them towards what they ‘need’ to consume next.

83
Benjamin, W. 2008. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Production. London: Penguin Books.
p. 45

43 | P a g e
 Conclusion

So what happened? Why did pieces of fine art get reduced to a medium for

advertisers to sell their product? In my opinion, through my research and study of

the area, there are two reasons: the first pertaining to the engulfing nature of the

spectacle; and the second to do with the change in the perception of why artworks

were being created.

The escalation in mass media and advertising in the first half of the 20th

century resulted in the creation of the spectacle and gave it endless amounts of

material ready for it to consume. The spectacle appropriated everything, including

culture. Culture being the possible seed for radical ideas, such as those of the

Surrealists. So when the spectacle commodified culture it created a limiting effect

on new revolutionary ideas at the time. From a revolutionaries point of view one

could ask the question; what was the use in constructing these new ideas knowing

that they would be recuperated into fuel for the mass media, which would invert their

radical and oppositional roots? Even those who still believed in their ideas, such as

the Surrealists, were not able to confront and resist the lure of the media and

powerless to stop their radical work from being reduced to spectacle. The meanings

behind the painting and objéts where drained from the images, leaving behind

empty signifiers, ready to be manipulated by the media. The work of Magritte, I

believe, had fallen victim to the all consuming power of the spectacle.

This realisation in knowing that the work of art can and will be re-

appropriated, I contend, also brought about a change in the artists thought process

when producing the work. Rather than focusing on whether these new images

(adverts) could be defined as ‘art’, think instead about whether with the invention of

44 | P a g e
advertising ‘the very nature of art had undergone a change?’84 Instead of creating

‘art for art’s sake’ it was more apparent that ‘the reproduced work of art is to an ever

increasing extent the reproduction of a work of art designed for reproduction’85.

Artists began creating works, knowing that the work being produced for

commodification would lose the title of ‘work of art’. If then the title were to be

resumed, it would have ceased to be what it once was. The term ‘work of art’ was

losing its original meaning and becoming an empty signified.

With Dalí we can deduce that this line of reasoning played a part in the

commodification of his work. He created his commercial work with the knowledge

that it is going to be reproduced, and it had the intention to be. Whether he knew it,

or his arrogance regarding his work hid it from him, these mass produced images

(such as the Vogue cover) had ceased to be ‘works of art’. There is no doubt Dalí’s

original work was created in the honour of upholding Surrealist ideals, but his work

over time became so debased and predictable that it had just become subsumed

into the material visual culture.

Culture has grown and developed to equate consumption with freedom; the

freedom to consume images and products gives the consumer a sense of control.

The appearance of having has becoming more important than actually having86, and

the spectacle has become a substitute for experience. Now the cultural acceptance

of consumption has become so commonplace that we, as consumers, neglect to

recognise the systems in play that are manipulating our purchase decisions.

Surrealisms’ style (and that of other fine art imagery) has become so routinely, and

sophisticatedly, used in advertising that it is now part of a visual tradition of images.

The Surrealist style has grown from its radical birth in the 1920’s avant-garde, to its

conventional and unobtrusive appropriation into 21st century mass media.

84
Ibid. p. 15
85
Ibid. p. 15
86
Op. cit. DeBord, G.

45 | P a g e
 Works Cited

“Advertisement: Beautiful Bryans”. Vogue. 1 Nov. 1945. 56. Print.

“Advertisement: Bryan Hosiery”. Vogue. 15 Oct. 1944. 60. Print.

“Advertisement: Lipstick (Salvador Dalí)”. Vogue. 1 Sep. 1945. 9. Print.

“Guy Debord / Society of the Spectacle – summary: "Unity and Division within

Appearance".“ The Cultural Studies Reader. May 25 2011. Web.

“The Century of the Self.” Narr. Adam Curtis. BBC 4. 17 Mar.-7 Apr. 2002.

Television

Agha, M. F. “Features: Surrealism, or the Purple Cow”. Vogue. 1 Nov. 1936. 60-61,

129-131, 146. Print.

Arias-Bolzmann, Leopold, Goutam Chakraborty and John C. Mowen. “Effects of

Absurdity in Advertising: The Moderating Role of Product Category Attitude and the

Mediating Role of Cognitive Responses.” Journal of Advertising. Spring 2000. Pp.

35-49. Print.

Beaton, Cecil. “Features: Beaton’s Bulletin”. Vogue. 1 Feb. 1937. 66-67, 114. Print.

Bell, Michael S. “Surrealism: An Alternative Approach: Veristic Attitudes in the Work

and Writings of Contemporary Surrealists.” Leonardo. 1984. 247-252. Print

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Production. London:

Penguin Books, 2008. Print.

Blume, Peter. “People and Ideas: The Light of the World”. Vogue. 15 Dec. 1936. 35.

Print.

46 | P a g e
Bradley, Fiona. Surrealism. London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 1997. Print.

Breton, André. Manifestoes of Surrealism. Michigan: Ann Arbor, 1972. Print.

Clancy, Odhrán. Effective Advertising: Do Abstract Advertisements Improve

Purchase Intention and Recall? IADT, Unpublished BA Dissertation. 2009. Print.

Dalí, Salvador. Comment on deviant Dalí. Michigan : R. Laffont, 1973. Print.

Dalí, Salvador. “Vogue: Cover”. Vogue. 1 June 1939. C1. Print.

Descharnes, Robert and Gilles Néret. Salvador Dalí 1904-1989. Koln: Taschen,

1993. Print.

Eggener, Keith. “An Amusing Lack of Logic: Surrealism and Popular Entertainment.”

American Art Autumn 1993: 30-45. Print

Finkestein, Haim. N. Surrealism and the Crisis of the Object. Michigan: Ann Arbor,

1979. Print.

Fol, Carine. “Commercial Art According to René Magritte”. Magritte 1898-1967.

Michigan: Ludion Press, 1998. Print.

Freud, S. The Interpretation of Dreams. London: Wordworth, 1997. Print.

Gablik, Suzi. Magritte. London: Thames and Hudson, 1970. Print.

Garfeild, Bob. Ad Age Advertising Century: The Top 100 Campaigns. Advertising

Age. n.p. 29 Mar. 1999. Print.

Gauss, Charles E. “The Theoretical Backgrounds of Surrealism". The Journal of

Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Autumn 1943. 37-44. Print.

Hanly, Robert. The Third Place: An Analysis of Surrealist Strategies in the

Advertising of the Playstation. IADT, Unpublished BA Dissertation. 2010. Print.

47 | P a g e
Homer, Pamela. M and Lynn R. Kahle. “A Social Adaption Explanation of the Effects

of Surrealism on Advertising.” Journal of Advertising. 1986. 50-54, 60. Print

Lehmann, Ulrich. Surreal Objects. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011. Print

Lowenstein, Adam. “The Surrealism of the Photographic Image: Bazin, Barthes, and

the Digital "Sweet Hereafter".” Cinema Journal. Spring 2007. 54-82. Print.

Mann, Paul. The Theory-Death of the Avant-Garde. USA: Indiana University

Press,1991. Print.

Mannes, Marya. “Vogue’s Spotlight”. Vogue. 1 Apr. 1935. 76, 77, 122. Print.

Matthews, J.H. “Fifty Years Later: The Manifesto of Surrealism”. Twentieth Century

Literature. Feb. 1975. 1-9. Print.

Meuris, Jacques. René Magritte 1898-1967. Spain: Taschen, 1993. Print.

Ollinger-Zinque, Giséle and Frederik Leen. Magritte 1898-1967. Michigan: Ludion

Press, 1998. Print.

Orban, C.E. The Culture of Fragments: Word and Images in Futurism and

Surrealism. Atlanta: Rodopi, 1997. Print.

Poynor, Rick. “Dark Tools of Desire”. Eye Magazine, Issue 63, Spring 2007. Web.

Poynor, Rick. “Documents of the Marvellous”. Eye Magazine Issue 65, Autumn

2007. Web.

Poynor, Rick. Designing Pornotopia. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2006. Print.

Radford, Robert. Dalí. London: Phaidon Press, 1997. Print.

Ray, Paul C. “What was Surrealism?” Journal of Modern Literature. 1970. 133-137.

Print.

48 | P a g e
Roque, Georges. “The Advertising of Magritte/ The Magritte in Advertising”. Graphic

Design History. New York: Allworth Press. n.p. Print.

Sontag, Susan. “The Image World”. On Photography.London: Penguin, 1979. Print.

Storr, Anthony. Freud: A Very Short Introduction. London: Oxford University Press,

2001. Print.

Strom, Kristen. “Avant-Garde of what?: Surrealism Reconcieved as Political

Culture”. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Winter 2004. 37-49. Print.

Talmey, Allene. “Features/ Articles/ People: Star-Packed Season”. Vogue. 15 Dec

1944. 30-41. Print.

Talmey, Allene. “Vogue’s Spotlight: Max Ernst/ Paul Klee”. Vogue. 34,85-86. Print.

Talmey, Allene. “Vogue’s Spotlight”. Vogue. 1 Mar. 1937. 89. Print.

Talmey, Allene. “Vogue’s Spotlight”. Vogue. 15 Jan. 1937. 68-69. Print.

Vogue. "Fashion: On Your Head and in Your Head”. Vogue. 1 Sept. 1936. 136-137.

Print.

Vogue. "Fashion: Tales of Details: Second Report from the Paris Openings”. Vogue.

15 Sept. 1936. 58-65, 150-153. Print.

Vogue. “ People and Ideas: Dalí’s Dream of Ballet”. Vogue. 15 Dec. 1941. 34-35.

Print.

Vogue. “Cover: Vogue”. Vogue. 1 Apr. 1944. C1. Print.

Vogue. “Fashion Forecast: Dalí’s Dream vs. Reality”. Vogue. 15 Feb. 1944. 48-49.

Print.

49 | P a g e
Vogue. “Fashion/ Articles/ People: Dalí’s Surrealist Dream House at the World’s

Fair”. Vogue. 1 Jun. 1939. 56-57. Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: Dalí Eyes Fashion for Vogue”. Vogue. 1 Sep. 1943. 90-91. Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: More from the Paris Openings”. Vogue. 15 Sep. 1936. 70-75.

Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: Our Changing Tastes”. Vogue. 15 May 1938. 66-67. Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: Salvador Dalí Interprets For Us Here”. Vogue. 1 Jun. 1939. 58-59.

Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: Spring Fabric Story”. Vogue. 15 Feb. 1937. 88-91. Print.

Vogue. “Fashion: Surrealism in New York Shops”. Vogue. 1 Mar. 1938. 108-109.

Print.

Vogue. “Features: Dalí’s “Venusberg” Ballet”. Vogue. 15 Oct. 1939. 48-51. Print.

Vogue. “Features: New York Circus”. Vogue. 15 Nov, 1936. 51-53. Print.

Vogue. “Features: Vogue’s 3 Man Show”. Vogue. 15 Mar. 1937. 82-85. Print.

Vogue. “Vogue’s Eye View”. Vogue. 15 Jan. 1936. 42,43. Print.

Williamson, Judith. Decoding Advertising. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd,

1978. Print.

Wilson, Bettina. “Features: Surrealism in Paris”. Vogue. 1 Mar. 1938. 106-107, 144.

Print.

Wood, Ghislaine. Surreal Objects. London: V&A Publications, 2007. Print.

Wood, Ghislaine. The Surreal Body: Fetish and Fashion. London: V&A Publications,

2007. Print.

50 | P a g e