The word ‘surrealist’ (suggesting ‘beyond reality’) was first used by the French avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire in a play written in 1903. In 1924, André Breton defined it as “pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought.” These artists often depicted dream worlds or hidden psychological tensions, and continue to influence contemporary practice. Famous names include Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Méret Oppenheim, Man Ray and Leonora Carrington.