These artists and writers believed that the conscious mind repressed one’s imagination and sought to uncover the irrational in the everyday through their art.

Due to the outbreak of World War II, many surrealist artists sought refuge in the United States, most settling in New York City. It was during this time that the émigré artists, namely Roberto Matta and Yves Tanguy, came into contact with and directly influenced young American artists such as William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, and other abstract expressionists. Included in this exhibition are works by major surrealist artists as well as paintings, works on paper, and photographs by artists they influenced in the United States.