Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design

From the sensuality of Salvador Dalí’s “Mae West Lips Sofa” to Elsa Schiaparelli’s extraordinary “Tear” dress, Surrealism produced some of the most emotive objects of the twentieth century. In this important study, published to accompany a major international exhibition, Ghislaine Wood examines in detail Surrealism’s influence in the fields of design and the decorative arts and its sometimes uneasy relationship with the commercial world. A celebration of contradiction, Surreal Things presents a dizzying range of works from Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, and many others, in media as varied as painting, sculpture, works on paper, book bindings, jewelry, ceramics, glass, textiles, furniture, fashion, film and photography. Many works are published here for the first time.