Surrealism swept through the art world like a storm, devastating all preconceived notions about the nature of reality, art and the human spirit. Based on the theories of psychoanalysis, this revolutionary art movement reached deep into the psyche. By provoking intense intellectual and emotional engagement in this way, it changed the face of modern art.

Surrealism art was an outcry against rationality. People saw it as a dominant and destructive force in society and in people's minds, responsible for many of the social ills of the time. Through cinema, art and literature, surrealist artists brought their unconscious center stage, using a variety of techniques to depict the clockwork of their dreams and innermost imaginations.

While surrealism provided a platform for exploring one's subconscious, surrealist artworks also encouraged viewers to explore and evaluate their own. This happened through distorted and bizarre images that were not inspired by logical, rational thinking, but rather by the absurd events and images created in the dream state, or images created simply by uninhibited free-form drawing or painting, which have become known as traits of surrealism.