This thesis examines two female dolls and their photographs by the German artist Hans Bellmer in the 1930s – after the rise of Nazism. The dolls were made dismantlable, allowing the artist to create innumerable combinations of body parts. This work outlines Bellmer's life, offers a detailed analysis of the dolls and photographs, as well as provides their interpretation. By employing various approaches to works of art, it seeks to unfold Bellmer's art in all its ambivalence. It also examines the historical evolution of modern attitudes towards artificial structures from the 17th to 20th century and explains when and why the ambivalent attitudes towards mechanisms have been formed. The study takes a psychoanalytic approach to Bellmer's dolls, links them to the Oedipus complex and castration complex, as well as looks at the culture-historical approach to dolls, placing them in the context of Nazism and surrealism. It presents the controversy over the surrealist movement – is it based on patriarchy and misogyny or, on the contrary, aims to liberate women from their traditional role in society?
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