A collective adventure begun by a small group of intellectuals in Paris in the early 1920s, amongst them Max Ernst, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali, Surealism's influence was felt through the rest of continenal Europe and in Britain, the Americas, Mexico, and Japan. This introduction documents how the artists met, the relationship of Surrealism to Dada, and the influences that informed the movement, particularly the work of Sigmund Freud. The position of women, as Surrealist subject mater as well as artists in their own right, is also examined.