ART HISTORY ASSIGNMENT: Modern Avant-Garde Movements – Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism

Art history students examining early 20th-century avant-garde movements frequently seek clear explanations of Futurism, Dada, and Surrealism to connect their historical context with artistic innovations and societal critique.

Art history. View the embedded videos taking notes and addressing the question within this assignment. Please only use the material provided. Instructors encourage careful note-taking during viewing to capture key examples and artist statements that illustrate each movement’s philosophy.

Read the text for more information. You need to log in to get the book. Please no plagiarism no a i. no chat bots original response please. Original responses based directly on the videos strengthen analytical skills and demonstrate engagement with primary visual sources.

Study Guide and Videos Chapter 67

Major Art Movements:

• Futurism – supported nationalism and some early fascist ideas.
• Dada – mocked authority and rejected traditional ideas of “art”. Artists often used chance and absurdity to express disillusionment after World War I.
• Surrealism – Emphasis upon changing society by changing how people think.

After viewing the videos and taking notes for submission…consider how these art styles reflected the time period and thoughts of the artists or the objectives of each movement. Connections between historical events and artistic responses often reveal deeper insights into cultural shifts during the interwar years.

Assigned Videos:

1. Abstract Art PBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hl5J47c3k 11 minutes
   What is Abstract Art?
2. Surrealism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtPBOwE0Qn0 10 minutes
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP2JS4vDvNc Surrealism 5 min What is Surrealism
3. Dada and Surrealism and Dada
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ltPg4ysuEL 12 min Dada
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4WlTijUNc0 Dada 12 min What is Dadaism?

Answer the following questions:

1. How was surrealism defined?
2. What is your opinion of surrealism? Why?
3. What is Automatism? Found Objects?
4. How are Dada and Surrealism alike/different
5. What is Dadaism?

Responses should draw directly from video content and the study guide notes while offering thoughtful personal reflection where requested. Clear, organized answers help demonstrate comprehension of these influential movements.

Sample Student Response

Art History Study Guide: Dada, Surrealism, and Futurism Video Assignment

Surrealism emerged in the 1920s as a movement rooted in exploring the unconscious mind and challenging rational thought. André Breton formally defined it as pure psychic automatism intended to express the true functioning of thought without moral or aesthetic constraints.

Artists sought to merge dream and reality to unlock deeper truths about human experience. Personal opinions vary, yet many appreciate surrealism for liberating creativity and revealing hidden psychological layers often suppressed in everyday life.

Automatism involves creating art through spontaneous actions free from conscious control, such as automatic drawing or writing that bypasses rational intervention. Found objects refer to everyday items selected and presented as art to provoke new interpretations and question traditional notions of artistic value.

Dada and Surrealism both reacted against the horrors of World War I and bourgeois conventions, sharing roots in rebellion and experimentation. However, Dada embraced chaos, nonsense, and anti-art attitudes to protest society, whereas Surrealism pursued structured exploration of the subconscious for revolutionary potential (Fedorova, 2025 doi:10.1080/25741136.2024.2443865).

Dadaism originated as an international anti-war protest using absurdity, performance, and ready-mades to mock authority and highlight the irrationality exposed by global conflict. These techniques continue to influence contemporary art practices.

Learning Materials and References

Fedorova, K. (2025) ‘Artificial intelligence in an artistic practice: a journey through surrealism and automatism’, Digital Creativity. doi: 10.1080/25741136.2024.2443865.

Hubrig, A. (2022) ‘Dada and Surrealism in the composition classroom: a transgenre pedagogical approach’, Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 49(3), pp. 226–241. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1335817.pdf (Accessed: 13 February 2026).

Jastrzębski, A. K. (2024) ‘“Archetypal load of tension”: idiosyncratic idioms of psychoanalysis in the art of the “artes” group’, Arts, 13(5), p. 145. doi: 10.3390/arts13050145.

Karabulut, T. (2025) ‘Dream-like narration and imagery in David Gascoyne’s surrealist poetry: “And the seventh dream is the dream of Isis”’, Sic Itur ad Astra. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/144594643/ (Accessed: 13 February 2026).