The Dance 

Eileen Agar's "The Dance" is a vibrant example of British surrealism, an artistic and intellectual movement that flourished in the early to mid-20th century. This work encapsulates the period’s interest in psychology and the unconscious, echoing ideas developed in Europe at the time. Agar, along with other British surrealists, was concerned with the politics of imagery and the public role of art. You can see this in her subversion of traditional forms and the fusion of abstract and representational elements, with each figure in the painting both distinct and connected, creating a sense of dynamic interaction. To fully understand "The Dance," we can look to exhibition records, artists' manifestos, and critical reviews of the time to understand its place within a progressive artistic movement that challenged social norms, and helped usher in a new more open era of social politics in Britain. This kind of historical contextualisation is vital to understanding the social conditions that shaped artistic production.