In June 1936, the International Surrealist Exhibition was held in London, introducing the British art world to the movement that had primarily flourished in continental Europe. Andre Breton’s influential Surrealist Manifesto had been published in France over a decade prior, and, though many British artists were familiar with the general premise of the movement, few had been exposed to the breadth of artwork like that hosted at the Exhibition (Ades 36). The varying styles of surrealist works hosted in London represented the eclectic methodologies of individual artists in the movement, as well as their shared inspiration in the workings of the unconscious mind (“International Surrealism”). While the exhibition featured a wide range of surrealists, only a single professional woman painter, Eileen Agar, had works at the event (Ades 36). Agar’s work is somewhat indicative of the eclectic stylings of the surrealists. Unlike Dali or Colquhoun’s representational, realistic style, Agar employs a much more abstract style influenced in part by cubists like her friend Louis Marcoussis (Ades 37). The works of Agar and other surrealists familiarized British artists with the styles and subjects of surrealism and was the catalyst of later British surrealist movements, including Ithell Colquhoun. The lack of female artists shown at the Exhibition also demonstrates the male-dominated nature of the surrealist movement during the 1930s.

Ades, Dawn. “Notes on Two Women Surrealist Painters: Eileen Agar and Ithell Colquhoun.” Oxford Art Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 1980, pp. 36–42. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1360177. Accessed 19 Mar. 2023.

Agar, Eileen. The Autobiography of an Embryo. Tate Modern. 1933-1934. https://www.wikiart.org/en/eileen-agar/the-autobiography-of-an-embryo-1934. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

“International Surrealism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/inthestudio/internatio.... Accessed 19 Mar. 2023.