MANIFESTO OF SURREALISM

BY THEO VAN DOESBOURG (1930) 

BASIS OF CONCRETE PAINTING

We say:

1. Art is universal.
2. A work of art must be entirely conceived and shaped by the mind before its execution. It shall not receive anything of nature’s or sensualitys or sentimentalitys formal data. We want to exclude lyricism, drama, symbolism, and so on.
3. The painting must be entirely built up with purely plastic elements, namely surfaces and colors. A pictorial element does not have any meaning beyond itself; as a consequence, a painting does not have any meaning other than itself.
4. The construction of a painting, as well as that of its elements, must be simple and visually controllable.
5. The painting technique must be mechanic, i.e., exact, anti-impressionistic.
6. An effort toward absolute clarity is mandatory.