Around 1780 - 1950s · Companions, monsters and hybrid beings of dreams

In the surrealist imagination, the animal can be a companion, double, omen or monster: it connects the intimate to the untamed forces of dreams.

The surreal bestiary inherits romantic monsters, symbolism and ancient mythologies. Blake imagines visionary creatures; Moreau and Redon give the sphinx, the cyclops or the fabulous animal psychic power. In the 20th century, the surrealists used birds, insects, horses or hybrid beings to short-circuit human logic. In Tanguy, the shapes may seem to belong to an unknown biology. In Frida Kahlo, whom Breton compares to surrealism but who claims to paint her own reality, monkeys, parrots, dogs and deer are at the same time lived animals, companions and personal signs. Rousseau places lions, snakes and prey in one jungle built by imagination. The collection thus distinguishes the real animal from the simple symbol: each work produces its own relationship between presence, projection and metamorphosis. The "Surrealist Animals and Creatures" selection notably compares Piggy Bank and Black Horse and Still Life with Parrot and Fruits. Its reading favors atmosphere.

The surreal animal looks from an unstable border: close enough to become a double, strange enough to keep the power of the unknown.