About this episode
This episode recounts the summer of 1937 when prominent Surrealist artists gathered in the south of France.
In the summer of 1937, some of the 20th Century's most famous artists, writers and photographers were holidaying in the south of France. They included artist Pablo Picasso, photographer Lee Miller, poet Paul Éluard and the painter Man Ray. The group were part of the Surrealist movement – a style of art inspired by dreams and hidden thoughts that can look strange and bizarre - and one of their most recent converts was artist Eileen Agar. Through a 1985 BBC interview with Eileen, digital archivist Jonathan Charlton tells the story of that summer in an episode produced by Jane Wilkinson. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists…
People in this episode
Host: Jonathan Charlton
Guest: Eileen Agar
Topics covered
- Surrealism
- art
- history
- Pablo Picasso
- Eileen Agar
- 20th Century artists
Keywords
- Surrealism
- Pablo Picasso
- Eileen Agar
- Lee Miller
- Paul Éluard
- Man Ray
- 1937
- art history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC, BBC World Service
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