For the 42nd episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Dr. Matthew Affron, Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Art Museum, about his book "Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100," published by the museum and distributed by Yale University Press.

Their conversation traces Surrealism from its 1924 origins in André Breton's manifesto—which asked "how should we live?"—to its evolution as both an artistic movement and a philosophy of liberation. Affron shows how Surrealism emerged not as a singular style but as a set of strategies for merging dream and reality, expressed through automatism, collage, found objects, and juxtaposition—techniques designed to bypass conscious control and access the unconscious.

They discuss how the movement's early lyrical explorations gave way in the 1930s to urgent responses to fascism's rise, with monsters and hybrids becoming visual metaphors for political evil. Affron examines the wartime diaspora that transformed Surrealism from a Parisian phenomenon into an international force, as artists fled to Mexico City and New York, drawing on indigenous North American imagery alongside European traditions.

Affron emphasizes that Surrealist images are not transcriptions of dreams but invitations into unstable territory where thinking, desiring, and imagining intersect. He explains why these works reward openness to surprise over attempts to decode them, and how their techniques—now part of popular culture—keep Surrealism relevant for contemporary audiences.

For anyone interested in modern art's avant-garde movements, the intersection of art and politics, or how creative communities adapt under pressure, this episode offers essential insights into a movement that continues to shape how we think about imagination and freedom.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matthew Affron is the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Art Museum. He holds a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University and has published extensively on early abstract art, Fernand Léger, and modern art's relationship to politics. His previous books include Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910–1950, The Essential Duchamp, and Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

"Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100" is on view at the Philadelphia Art Museum through February 16, 2026. The exhibition features approximately 200 works by more than 70 artists, with highlights including Joan Miró's Dog Barking at the Moon (1926), Salvador Dalí's Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936), and Dorothea Tanning's Birthday (1942). Philadelphia is the sole North American venue for this international centennial celebration. Learn more here: https://www.visitpham.org/exhibitions/dreamworld-surrealism

PURCHASE THE BOOK

https://store.philamuseum.org/dreamworld-surrealism-at-100-exhibition-catalog/

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"Reading the Art World" is a podcast featuring live interviews with leading authors and writers on important new art books. Megan Fox Kelly is an art advisor and past President of the Association of Professional Art Advisors who works with collectors, estates and foundations.

Music composed by Bob Golden