However, while not halting the cultural influence of their ideas even in post-World War II art, under wartime pressures around 1939 the members of the original movement dispersed; with the outbreak of war and the German invasion of France their political stance made them invisible to the Nazi dictatorship, forcing them to isolate themselves or flee to different countries.
In those years, the success of Surrealism is evidenced by the exhibitions in London and New York in 1936 and especially the major international exhibition at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938. However, while not halting the cultural influence of their ideas even in post-World War II art, under wartime pressures around 1939 the members of the original movement dispersed; with the outbreak of war and the German invasion of France their political stance made them invisible to the Nazi dictatorship, forcing them to isolate themselves or flee to different countries.