The painting is interpreted as symbolic of the turbulent relationship between the artist and his father, as an amateur painter and staunch Catholic.

[1] In the background drawn on a wall is a man with a bandaged head ascending a flight of stairs.

A profile on the work in the British newspaper The Guardian indicates the figure could represent either Sigmund Freud or the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who suffered a head wound during World War I.

Its title reflects the revolutionary sentiments of the movement, and in particular of its founder, André Breton.

This image is notable for its combination of heavily textured surfaces and sharp, hand-drawn outlines.