Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Arts minister Rachel Nolan have announced a major new exhibition of Dali, Magritte, Miró, Man Ray and other surrealists.

Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams opens in June and showcases Europe’s most important and extensive collection of surrealist works, from the Musée national d’art moderne at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

‘The Centre Pompidou’s collection captures the diversity, experimentation and excitement of Paris which was the epicentre of Surrealism in Europe’, said Queensland Art Gallery director Tony Ellwood.

‘Artists gravitated there from all over Europe to create an unparalleled avant-garde scene in which painters, sculptors, filmmakers, scientists, dancers and poets all collaborated’.

Curated by Didier Ottinger, deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne, the exhibit traces the history of this most enigmatic of art movements from its Dadaist origins in the 1910s through to late examples of the 1970s.

More than 180 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and films by 56 artists make this the most significant and comprehensive survey of surrealism in Australia since 1993.

Events surrounding the exhibition include a program of surrealist cinema screenings and an Up Late series featuring weekly music performances and lectures.