The Surrealist Impulse: New Acquisitions from the Tacoma Art Museum Collection

September 6, 2008 – May 10, 2009

Since the early 1930s, visual artists have mined surrealism by creating artwork based on dream imagery, non-sequiturs, and free association. Surrealism was a cultural and philosophical movement that began in Europe in the1920s and aspired to capture the essence of pure thought, unbound by reason or order.

The Surrealist Impulse explores the persistent influence of surrealism and emphasizes the diversity of works and artists new to the museum’s collection, including Gloria Bornstein, Anya Kivarkis, Jared Pappas-Kelley, Mary Ann Peters, and Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. Highlights of the exhibition are Morris Graves’s 1936 painting Chalice Holding the Stimson Mill, a commentary on the rapid growth of Seattle’s industrial areas, and The Song of Songs of King Solomonfrom 1971, by Salvador Dali, a portfolio of prints illustrating love songs from a book of the Bible. The broad range of media in the exhibition—glass, video, jewelry, ceramics, prints, and painting—reflects the collecting goals of Tacoma Art Museum and its strong interest in the accomplishments of Northwest artists.

Joseph Goldberg, Chaco, 2005. Encaustic on linen over wood, 36 x 48 inches. Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds from Rebecca and Alexander Stewart in honor of Dr. Dale Hall and Susan Russell Hall. Photo: Richard Nicol.