Key works on display at Surrealism Returns include Last Voyage of Captain Cook by Roland Penrose, Head of a Catalan Peasant by Joan Miro, and Belle Main by Man Ray.

Returning to the gallery’s walls as part of the exhibition is Picasso’s Weeping Woman, originally exhibited at the gallery for the first time in 1937. It was displayed as part of an exhibition of 15 Picassos, owned by Hugh Willoughby, a Cheltenham-educated collector.

For months after painting his vast mural Guernica, Picasso had made paintings based on a single motif within it. Weeping Woman is the last and most elaborate of the series, with features based on Picasso’s then lover Dora Maar.

A programme of events is currently taking place at Cheltenham to celebrate the Surrealist spirit. Gallery-goers can unlock the gates of their unconscious with A Surrealist Creative Writing Workshop, or take a guided tour looking for Surrealist influence in Cheltenham’s own collections.

For further information on upcoming events at the gallery, visit the website http://www.cheltenhammuseum.org.uk/