In Surrealism's wave: Drifting from the real in Dora Maar's photomontage

Pereira, Livia Tomassini

Publication

In Surrealism's wave: Drifting from the real in Dora Maar's photomontage

Pereira, Livia Tomassini

Date

2024-05-06

Abstract

Between 1934–36 artist Dora Maar (1907–1997) closely engaged with the Surrealist movement through photography and photomontage. This thesis examines Maar’s photomontage in relation to the problems of reality, representation, and the marvelous that were at the center of Surrealist thought. I argue that instead of pitting reality and construction in opposition or in transposition Maar’s photomontage shifts between the real and unreal. My analysis focuses on five key works and elaborates how the artist’s handling of pictorial space and her use of Surrealist signs puts in motion a shifting sense of reality and unreality. This thesis ultimately turns to the recurring motif of the beach or shoreline and considers how the ocean’s edge, particularly its drift, is a conceptual model for Maar’s surrealism.