The Drawn Surrealism

The Surrealist art movement emerged in France in the 1920s. Influenced by the experiences of the First World War, its members sought to bring about a social revolution: cultural traditions were to be abandoned and new means of expression developed. To this end, they drew on other art movements such as Expressionism and new scientific findings and theories such as Sigmund Freud's on the unconscious. In drawings, a medium that allows for spontaneity and experimentation, the artists developed a new surreal world, characterized by boundless imagination and access to the subconscious. The Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen presents over 100 drawings in the exhibition Surrealisme på papir (Surreal on Paper), which offer a unique perspective on this famous art movement. The show runs from September 13 to January 11, 2026.

For the exhibition, the Statens Museum for Kunst borrowed 75 high-profile drawings from the Centre Pompidou, which are being shown alongside works from its own collection and from other Danish and international lenders. The exhibition also highlights the international nature of Surrealism, with Paris at its center, as many of the Danish artists featured in the exhibition lived in the French capital in the 1920s and 1930s. The artists featured include Victor Brauner, Franciska Clausen, Salvador Dalí, Óscar Domínguez, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Wilhelm Freddie, Rita Kernn-Larsen, André Masson, Meret Oppenheim, and Francis Picabia.