In this illuminating exhibition you will become familiar with two radical art movements that both explored the psyche with the aim of establishing a new concept of humanity. Through artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Paul Gauguin, Dora Maar, René Magritte, Lee Miller, Joan Miró, Odilon Redon, and Auguste Rodin we will take you on a journey through the limitless world of the unconscious.

Symbolism as a movement in literature and the visual arts emerged in the 1880s. Influenced by the contemporary interest in spirituality and psychology, Symbolist artists rejected naturalistic depictions of the real world and instead turned their attention towards a world of spirituality and dreams. Some decades later, in 1924, the French poet André Breton wrote his Manifesto of Surrealism, in which he argued that art should transform society by uniting the worlds of dreams and reality. In order to succeed, the artists should free themselves from rational and moral concerns and seek to tap into the revolutionary power of the unconscious mind.

Through various thematic perspectives and a range of media, this landmark exhibition will shed new light on the history of Surrealism. With the idea of the unconscious as a turning point, The Savage Eye traces the roots of Surrealism in Symbolism and shows how the two art movements both reflect each other and overlap. Some of the most significant artists in modern art meet here in the murky depths of the human mind, where logic and morality give way to dreams, disturbing impulses, and unbridled desire.