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Surrealists feasted on the unconscious. They believed that Freud's theories on dreams, ego, superego and the id opened doors to the authentic self and a truer reality (the "surreal"). Like the Dadaists, they relished the possibilities of chance and spontaneity.
This approach to art was radical. Art schools and studios from time immemorial stressed the methodical application of one's skill. To let go of deliberate action - however, quickly or slowly executed it might be - seemed antithetical to the whole concept of art itself. For the Surrealists, the idea of skill from training was understood. Their philosophy was to let go of the constraints of learned skills and tradition methods of making art. They sought out children's art, |
naïf art (for example, Henri Rousseau), "primitive" art and "outsider" art (such as the art made by patients in mental institutions) to stoke the fires of their almost incoherent inventions.