Veristic surrealism is a surrealistic art style that aims to depict the dream world in great detail. Salvador Dali, one of the most well-known veristic surrealists, painted ornate scenes of melting clocks, fantastical creatures, and other elements. Strangely veristic, or realistic, painting, which seems to draw the viewer into a fantasy world with no connection to reality, is a common feature of the style.
Surrealism was a movement that spanned literature, art, and performance in the early twentieth century. The surrealists were attempting to depict the unconscious and to divert viewers’ attention away from the horrors of modern life, as exemplified the First World War. Andre Breton, one of the surrealist movement’s founding fathers, described the art form as portraying “ultimate reality” in 1924. People could be provoked into thought and discussion about the world around them, Breton believed, bringing the unconscious into art.
Surrealism takes many forms, with veristic surrealism being one of the most well-known. Veristic surrealism, with its distinctive realistic portrayal of unreal or fantasy scenes, is recognized even those who do not study art history. Surrealism of this type confronts the viewer with the painter’s fantasy world, and the artist tries not to filter the scene through his or her conscious mind. This implies that the viewer is peering into the artist’s dreams and is free to interpret the work as he or she sees fit.
This is in contrast to other forms of surrealism, which are frequently filtered through the conscious mind in order to create a specific structured image or to elicit a specific thought. The artist has already interpreted the work and is presenting it to the audience as if it were a finished story. The viewer can imagine the story on his or her own and see into the artist’s inner world with veristic surrealism.
There are many different painting and narrative styles within veristic surrealism. Some artists create fantastic drawings in which strange objects are juxtaposed in seemingly ordinary settings. This type of surrealism was perfected Magritte, who created very plain, stark work that juxtaposed items or ideas that were clearly at odds with one another. Magritte’s work tended to avoid fantasy creations in favor of repurposing everyday objects. Others in this school went the other way and used their art to create entirely imaginary dream worlds that combined elements of fantasy and mysticism.