Surreal century

Scottish museum's collection of iconic works from the dreamlike genre shows perfect timing as the art movement celebrates its 100th anniversary, Zhang Kun reports.

From Salvador Dali's celebrated Lobster Telephone to an antique python-skin print chair redesigned by Dorothea Tanning, the ongoing Fantastic Visions: 100 Years of Surrealism exhibition that the National Galleries of Scotland is presenting in Shanghai showcases the wild imaginings and infinite possibilities of everyday objects.

The show that opened at the Museum of Art Pudong on Feb 2 and runs until the end of August is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of surrealism ever in China, says the Shanghai museum's chairperson Li Minkun.

It showcases more than 120 artworks by 50 leading surrealist artists and writers, including some of the most iconic works by the likes of Dali, Tanning, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Joan Miro and Leonora Carrington.