International Surrealist Exhibition

The International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936 was a significant event for British Surrealism. Surrealism, a European movement flourishing between the World Wars, aimed to unite the conscious and unconscious mind in art, drawing inspiration from dreams and the theories of Sigmund Freud.21

This London exhibition featured conferences by prominent Surrealists like André Breton and Salvador Dalí, alongside British figures such as poet David Gascoyne and critic Herbert Read. While the British movement had its own influences, it maintained close ties to its French origins. The exhibition was a key moment in bringing Surrealist ideas to a wider British audience.2