Paalen’s critique of Marxism in art primarily relies on a decontextualized quote from Engels where he states: “that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.; ” this quote was originally utilized in the context of an oration at Marx’s funeral, not exactly a theoretical work. Where Marx did promote a base and superstructure binary, this binary is not a relationship wherein one constitutes the other, other than in the context of historical progression: the “before” in this sentence is history, not the “base” as such. Surrealism's engagement of Marxism often relies on such problematic readings and liberal distortions of Marxism.