The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is taking its audiences on a trip into the bizarre with the exhibition International Surrealism. Featuring over 100 works by an international array of artists, all drawn from the impressive collection of Tate in London, this exhibition highlights the wide range of practices, techniques and perspectives from across the globe that came to define the movement. The exhibition emphasizes the endless reach of the surrealist mindset through a rich display of works by celebrated artists and writers—including André Breton, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí and René Magritte—and their peers.
“Surrealism wasn’t just a movement or a singular artistic style, it was a way of life,” said Sue Canterbury, The Pauline Gill Sullivan Curator of American Art at the Dallas Museum of Art. “This exhibition offers our viewers a glimpse into this revolution of the mind and the evocative, fantastical and often unsettling images that surrealism produced.”
“Tate holds one of the most rich and iconic collections of surrealism from around the world,” said Interim Director and Marcus-Rose Family Deputy Director Tamara Wootton Forsyth. “It is a great privilege to bring this renowned collection from across the pond to Dallas and give our audiences a peek into the endlessly fascinating world of surrealism.”
International Surrealism grounds the viewer in the literary origins of the movement through a selection of publications and other printed ephemera from the first half of the 20th century. These materials ensured the widespread dissemination of surrealist ideals throughout the world and across language barriers, while setting the stage for its transformation of artistic imagery. The surrealists were inspired by Sigmund Freud’s theories of an unconscious mind containing emotions censored by the conscious mind and they adapted Freudian methods of free association into “automatic” techniques that harnessed the possibilities of chance composition. This liberation from the repressive control of the rational mind in favor of embracing the spontaneous gave way to abstracted, kaleidoscopic forms—seen in this exhibition through works by Jackson Pollock and Joan Miró—that were, as artist Adrien Dax wrote in 1950, “marvelous spectacles in which the eye can venture forth into a world never seen before.”
International Surrealism traces the global reach of surrealism through well-known concerns of the movement such as dreams and desire. Visitors will traverse absurdist, seemingly nonsensical images like those of René Magritte’s The Reckless Sleeper and Leonora Carrington’s Transference. Surrealists also found inspiration in the boundless capacity of nature, finding it magnetically stimulating in its destruction and abundance, and resulting in the rich mix of works seen in the exhibition that contend not only with the natural world but also with the supranatural. International Surrealism also underscores the engagement with “the everyday” by showcasing surrealist objects. From Alberto Giacometti’s erotic forms to Dorothea Tanning’s soft sculpture—and several works that only survive in photographs due to their ephemeral nature—these three-dimensional works, often created using found objects, served to unsettle, provoke and inspire imagination.
The exhibition goes beyond the “usual suspects” to encompass the broad swath of artists who engaged with surrealist ideas, including women and artists from outside Europe. Around the 1930s, as sexual freedom became increasingly integrated into surrealist ideology, so too were women creators and those who challenged gender conventions increasingly recognized. International Surrealism showcases works of and by women, including Eileen Agar, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini and Dorothea Tanning. The exhibition also highlights the global reach of surrealism, which remained thoroughly international despite the context of world conflict, attracting different generations of artists, from Cuban artist Wifredo Lam to Mozambican artist Malangatana Ngwenya, who expressed their desire for self-determination through art.
“Texas Instruments is proud to sponsor the International Surrealism exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art," said Andy Smith, TI director of Giving and Volunteering. "The surrealists pushed creative boundaries and reimagined what was possible—an innovative spirit that mirrors TI's own values. By bringing these remarkable works from Tate to Dallas, we're helping our community experience firsthand how creative thinking can transform our understanding of the world.
International Surrealism is curated by Matthew Gale, independent art historian and curator, formerly Senior Curator at Large, Tate Modern. The Dallas presentation of the exhibition is curated by Sue Canterbury, The Pauline Gill Sullivan Curator of American Art. International Surrealism is on view at the DMA November 2, 2025 through March 22, 2026.
Joan Miró. Women and Bird in the Moonlight, 1949. Tate Modern. © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 2025.
