Surrealism began as a literary movement in Paris, 1924, when writer André Breton created its first manifesto – he described it as "pure psychic automatism" – and it was shaped by Symbolist poetry and Dadaism, whose "anti-artworks" defied reason. It was soon embraced by fine artists including Max Ernst, Hans Arp, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró and René Magritte, who were reacting to the horrors of World War One, and the devastation of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The group was also greatly influence...