Throckmorton Fine Art is presenting a comprehensive exhibition titled "Surrealism, Over a Century Merging the Realms of Dreams and Reality," marking the centennial anniversary of André Breton's groundbreaking Surrealist Manifesto. The exhibition showcases the profound and lasting impact that Surrealism has had on photography across three continents over the past century.

When French poet and theorist André Breton published his Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, he established a revolutionary artistic vision that would tap into the most electrifying dimensions of human imagination. The movement emerged from the shattered collective consciousness of post-World War I Europe, as artists rejected the grim realities of a modern civilization marked by violence and devastation. Instead, they embraced the unconscious, intangible realm of dreams and inner desires.

Drawing inspiration from Freudian psychoanalysis and fueled by the radical energy of the Dada movement, a generation of painters, sculptors, authors, photographers, filmmakers, and philosophers began exploring the creative possibilities of the human psyche. Photography proved to be an ideal medium for Surrealism's quest to distort rational perceptions of the world, offering tools for manipulating reality to create thrilling or disturbing effects.

The exhibition features photographs from Europe, the United States, and Mexico, demonstrating how various photographic techniques became vital to Surrealism's mission. These techniques included double exposures, sandwiched negatives, photomontage, and polarization, as well as the use of absurd props and theatrical lighting. Just as collage juxtaposed the real with the impossible, or automatic drawing gave the unconscious mind free rein over creative output, these photographic methods helped release the hidden impulses of the mind.

Among the Surrealist icons featured in the exhibition are Leonora Carrington, Kati Horna, and Dora Maar. However, the show also highlights how the language and spirit of Surrealism extended far beyond the artists traditionally associated with the movement's canon. The exhibition includes works by numerous other photographers who adopted playful, experimental approaches inspired by Surrealism, including Edward Weston's fetishized figuration of inanimate objects, Tina Modotti's uncanny representation of human-like puppets, and André Kertész's distortion of the human body.

Portraits of French playwright Jean Cocteau by photographers Berenice Abbott, Lucien Clergue, and Germaine Krull are also featured, displaying a powerfully Surrealist sensibility. The exhibition demonstrates Surrealism's longer-term legacy through later and contemporary works, such as Graciela Iturbide's startling use of mirrors and animals, Francesca Woodman's ghostly domestic scenes, and Ana Mendieta's unsettling convergence of land and human form.

The exhibition pays special attention to Mexico's significant role in the movement's development. Mexico drew a wave of European artists from the late 1930s onward as they fled the outbreak of World War II. Breton's International Exhibition of Surrealism in Mexico City in 1940 marked a pivotal moment for Latin America's involvement in and contribution to the style, extending the movement beyond its European origins.

Although Surrealism is largely considered a European movement, striking works by Mexican photographers like Lola Álvarez Bravo, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, and María García highlight the movement's relationship with a region that was already home to a creative imagination that leaned toward the marvelous and fantastical. This creative spirit was most notably evident in the rise of magical realism in Latin American literature and art.

A hundred years after its emergence, Surrealism continues to remind viewers of the fragile border between reality and fantasy, offering a dreamlike escape during times of social and political upheaval. Yet the bizarre or grotesque images of the Surrealist dream can be just as unsettling as the absurd and often unbearable realities of the waking world. Surrealism's rupture with reason serves to reconfigure our vision of ourselves and cast a more astute gaze on what is real.

The exhibition has been curated by María Millán, an art historian and writer. "Surrealism, Over a Century Merging the Realms of Dreams and Reality" opens on November 29th, 2025, at Throckmorton Fine Art, located at 145 East 57th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and more information is available at https://throckmorton-nyc.com/.