SALVADOR DALI
Salvador Dali fits into the Surrealist theme of our gallery because he was one of the most influential surrealism artists of his time and his influence has lasted throughout time. He stood out because he applied the concept of surrealism to all aspects of his life. He was rebellious toward art and politics and he expressed this through his art.
Background
Dali was born May 11,1904 and died January 23, 1989. He was born in Figueres, Spain and grew up with his mother and father. He studied art in Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. In the 1920's he went to Paris and begun interacting with artists such as Picasso and Miro. His painting mostly consisted of collages from his dreams. Dali was immensely influenced by Sigmund Freuds writing about the erotic significance of subconscious mind. He then incorporated what he had learned from Freud with his own subconscious dreams. Dali's major contribution to the surrealism period was the “paranoiac-critical method”. This was a mental exercise of accessing the subconscious to enhance creativity through the subconscious. He used this to create a reality from his dreams and subconscious, and he showed this reality through his art.
"The Metamorphosis of Narcissus", 1937
Formal Description
Surrealism art focuses on the images of the subconscious mind. Although Dali used a multitude of medias such as sculpture and film, most of his surrealism work is done though oil painting. Dali uses very vivid and wild colors and depictions in his art, which is one of the reasons he stood out in the surrealism movement. He uses dream-like visuals and symbols to tell stories. A common visual in his art is butterflies because butterflies in Greek meant "psyche' or "soul".
Conceptual Description
Dali's surrealist style can be interpreted a multitude of ways by viewers. Typically the iconography is representative of Dalis dreams or experiences. His paintings expressed his thoughts and visuals freely without the restriction of conventionally rational thought and societal rules. He uses vivid and wild colors and imagery to express tone and feeling. His art showed common themes of death, subconscious, eroticism, and decay.
The Metamorphosis of Narcissus" is Dali's interpretation of the Greek myth of Narcissus. The myth was about a beautiful man who fell in love with his own reflection. He was so in love with himself that he ended up dying from refusing to look away from himself. In Dalis interpretation, you first notice the two large similar figures, one on each side of the painting. Both have similar proportions and a comparable outline. However, each one is different, and so are the backgrounds depicting secondary elements. These two figures represent Narcissus before and after his transformation. The cool colors on the after side suggest night, death, and sadness.
"Landscape with Butterflies", 1956
In "Landscape with butterflies" Dali uses one of his favorite symbols to represent the psyche and soul.
In "The elephants" Dali’s morphed elephants to have skinny, fragile, long legs. The feet are always attached to the ground, but the legs continue to get longer and longer. This surreal image can symbolize being shackled to the earth by gravity but always reaching for the higher places.
"The Elephants",1948
"The Persistence of Memory", 1931
In "The Persistence Of Memory" Dali takes the idea of a watch and bends its reality because normally a watch has a hard surface and have a non-bendable outline, but Dali turns that reality on its head by making the watch bend and have a soft surface. The reality becomes surreal and the time becomes timeless. The idea of a soft watch points to time being relative and not fixed, like the watch is running out of the clock.
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"The Meditative Rose", 1958
Finally, in "The Meditative Rose" Dali depicts a rose, a common symbol of beauty and desire, floating angelically above a Spanish inspired landscape. This painting shows a more delicate and beautiful side of Dali when compared with his usual dark pieces.
