Surrealism is considered one of the most influential intellectual and artistic movements of the twentieth century. The exhibition “Everything Surreal?! Photography in the Cosmos of Surrealism” at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart puts the medium of photography in dialogue with paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects, and film footage. Marking the 200th anniversary of photography, the exhibition pays tribute–on an unprecedented scale–to the medium’s special significance for the artists of this groundbreaking movement.
Founded in Paris in 1924 by André Breton, Surrealism first emerged in literature before extending to painting and sculpture in the mid-1920s. It also gave rise to a new aesthetic in the then-emerging media of film and photography. Through unusual perspectives and experimental techniques such as solarization, multiple exposure, montage, and collage, Surrealist photographers explored the limits of the medium, challenging previous conventional viewing habits.
Shaken by the senselessness of the World War I and influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, Surrealist works transcend reason and logic, bringing dreamlike and associative imagery to the forefront. The human body occupies a central role, often dissected and transformed in an attempt to approach a deeper reality. Through their staged realities, Surrealist artists developed a counter-model to the worldview of bourgeois society and its perceived moral hypocrisies. In doing so, they made a major contribution to modern art—one whose echoes remain visible today in advertising, film, and art to this day.
In addition to approximately 250 photographs from the collection of Dietmar Siegert, acquired in summer 2025 with support from the Museumsstiftung Baden-Württemberg, the exhibition presents more than 40 paintings, sculptures, objects, and works on paper from the museum’s own holdings, along with significant loans from international museums and private collections. A scholarly catalogue will accompany the exhibition, including a comprehensive inventory of Surrealist photography in the Staatsgalerie’s collection.
The exhibition is a special exhibition of the State of Baden-Württemberg and is held under the patronage of His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador of France to Germany.
Credit: Philippe Halsman, Dalí Atomicus, ca. 1948, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung, erworben 2025 aus Mitteln der Museumsstiftung Baden-Württemberg, Sammlung Dietmar Siegert, © Philippe Halsman Estate 2026, Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026