From the Visual to the Visionary

This book aims to investigate Surrealism's precedents in visual tradition and toexplore its influence on contemporary art. Taking the ideational power of vision astheir starting point, these thirteen essays apply different perspectives to themesessential to the Surrealist avant-garde - dreams, magic, madness - but alsomystic visions, hybridity and the ongoing relevance of syncretic figures as proteangerminations of the irrational. The collection opens with a reconsideration of AndréBreton's late book, L'Art magique (1957). The other essays cover a wide array ofthemes, ranging from witches' iconography in the early modern period to immersivecontemporary video installations, while devoting particular attention to specificSurrealism-related topics. Following the fil rouge traced by Breton, the possibilityof an alternative art-historical narrative clearly emerges.