Salvador Dali and his Unique Artworks - Research Paper Example

Salvador Dali and his Unique Artworks Salvador Dali made a for himself in the 20th century in art. Salvador was born into a century when art was attaining a different meaning. In Europe, there was a vigorous definition of art by different artists. These artists formed cultural movements based on the most crucial beliefs about art. Dali’s artistic works that carried strange expressions won a lot of publicity in the world. Dali had a characteristic personal branding in both art and appearance. The unique personal brand added to his publicity. Dali won immeasurable publicity that drew criticism. While some people acknowledged the true worth of his work in making him famous, some people thought that he over commercialized himself. However, Dali’s work deserved the credit it earned because he had real talent evident from his artistic works. The beginning of the 20th century in 1904 saw the birth of one Salvador Dali, to a well up agricultural family in Catalonia, Spain (James 23). His parents were Dali Cusi and Felipa Domenech. His birth was unique as his parents thought he was a reincarnation of their older child who had not lived beyond nine months. Dali accepted the reincarnation story at five years. In addition to their home in Catalonia, the family had a house in Cadaques where they stayed over summer. The stay in cadaques had great influence on Dali’s work. Dali had a close relationship with his mother but not with his politically influential father. Dali’ enrolled into school at a tender age of four at Escuela public school. Due to his inability to concentrate in school, his father sent him to a private school. However, Dali did not progress well in school. On the contrary, Dali occupied himself with reminiscences of his summer holidays. His summer holidays presented the only opportunity for him to do what he liked best. He was lucky to find an art mentor at Cadaques where they spent summer. Ramon Pichot, a close ally to the family, mentored Dali up his way to art since childhood. Pichot had links with Pablo Picasso, an influential artist of that time. In 1922, Dali joined the San Fernando academy of art, a venture that would determine his future as an artist. In the academy in Madrid, Dali got the opportunity to express himself freely. It is in the academy where Dali started out on his unique dressing style that would later earn him criticism and publicity. In addition, in the academy, he made friends with whom he walked along his career with forming partnerships with them at times. These friends included Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunuel. According to the Dali Museum Inclusive, during his time in the academy, he explored different art styles in search of his true artistic identity. He tried out cubism, futurism, and purism. He kept himself updated on these styles by reading journals. His work began to appear in galleries and soon he gained the confidence to hold solo exhibitions. He also displayed his work in multiple exhibitions. Due to his talent and increasing artistic adventure, he realized that he was not getting enough challenge from his instructors. This attitude led to his trials to criticize the academy administration. At some point, the academy could not hold him any more. After the dismissal from the academy, he embarked on painting back in his hometown. Dali’s works evoke varied emotions. He was too radiant in expressing themes that no longer appealed the Spaniard exhibitions. His thematic exploration at this time was mutilation and decay. Dali’s career took a different turn in 1929 because he ventured into a partnership with his friend from the academy Luis Bunuel (Ross 80). The duo created an avant-garde film that exposed violence and dead bodies. The film titled ‘An Andalusian Dog’ brought the two artists international recognition because it fetched great market. Because of the fame, Dali moved to Paris, where he became a member of the surrealists. The surrealists belonged to an art culture that believed in representing objects as they are in the unconscious mind. Surrealists expressed images and themes that seemed unreal to the conscious mind. The culture opposed traditional art that concentrated on representing objects that seemed real. This explains why the culture had no problem accepting the strange images that Dali painted. In the same year, Dali met individuals who left an inspirational impact ion his life. One of these people was Pablo Picasso, a famous artist in his time. In addition, Dali met Rene Magritte, Hans Arp, and writer Eluard. During this time met along life partner, Gala who left her previous marriage for Dali. Although she was older than he was, Dali found inspiration and a soul mate in her. Gala complemented Dali’s life giving him the impetus to climb the staircase to fame. She was a model to most of his work and Dali adored her. She ensured proper management of Dali’s work and this helped drive him to fame and international recognition. Dali soon broke out from the surrealists because of political indifference. Although he believed in the psychoanalytic theory of the culture and applied it, he held a differing opinion on the communist politics. However, through the influence of Freud’s theories, frequently published, Dali got a conviction of indulging in paranoia, a concept that defined his subsequent works. Dali worked on building a name for him and not the group (Ross 95). Most the time, he sought to promote his work at the expense of the group. His attitudes and priorities never conformed to the group. As things were, Dali was rolling into fame despite his attitude and he received open criticism from Breton, the group leader (Ross 109). According to Breton, Dali over commercialized his work in a bid to make more money. Later, the movement dismissed him. Departure from the group formed the start of Dali’s existence as an independent artist (Dali and Klein 26). In the following years, Dali moved to America at the verge of war break out. Through his unique artwork, he had won the attention of galleries and admirers in America. Therefore, he fetched popularity easily and his works displayed in exhibitions and museums. Dali also indulged in film and animation projects. The emerging nuclear power at the conclusion of the Second World War two in 1945, gave Dali a new inspiration. He ventured into atomic painting (Dali and Klein 27). Later, he expressed both scientific and religious themes in his work but with a unique style of classic fusion (Ross 112). Dali later moved back to Spain. Faced with an illness that limited the use of his hands, he did little painting. However, he had done too much already. Through out his career he kept a unique dress code that defined him. He designed his moustache in a way that got him attention. His artistic comments gave rise to a lot of criticism. In his own unique way, he knew how to get above the rest of the group. He stood out in style and themes. He tried out new things and did not hesitate to bring out his paranoiac attitude. If he won fame, it did not come on a silver platter; he worked for it by maintaining a personal brand unique to him in the 20th century (Grimes and Becnel 152). He tried out different art forms from painting, drawing, and jewelry and clothing design and did film at times. At his demise in 1989, he left behind a legacy in art. Description of Salvador Dali’s ‘persistence of memory’ in 1931 The persistence of memory is a painting that has spurred a lot of criticism among artistic analysts. The canvas painting is small about 24.1 cm by 33cm (Wyrick 492). It portrays the landscape of Portlligat that reflects Dali’s neighborhood in the Mediterranean coast. Dali was greatly fond of the area in which he grew up and reflected in his paintings. He depicts the cliffs and shaggy appearance of the rock. The painting also depicts soft watches flowing slowly on the cliff and rocks. On the upper right hand, features of the landscape appear. The cliffs have a hard outline and crystal light of the sky appears. However, the landscape is not rich in other features and depicts emptiness like a desert. Dali provides no clues of distance or time of the day and gives no implications of the temperatures. The landscape features appear only in the upper third of the painting. The rest of the painting contains the melting watches. One of the watches hangs over a truncated branch. The branch is part of an old olive tree. Second watch melts at the edge of the painters hand while the third drops from an object that lies on the beach. Dali then paints the fourth watch filled with ants. Two of the watches have ants and a fly and this depicts presence of life on the beach (Dali Museum 2). Different people interpret the painting differently. The softness of the watches and their ability to flow are fundamental. Watches bring out the concept of time. Usually, watches are usually rigid. In this case, flowing sets apart two different aspects. It makes the real time and the machine appear as two different things. However, considering the paranoiac attitude in his painting, the watches portray the subconscious view of time (Dali Museum 3). Whether we like it or not, our minds store aspects of the past as memory. Unconsciously, the human brain associates time with memories. The melting of watches over the sandy beach reflects the elapsing of time. The fact that the watches can melt down is enough reason to question the relevance if time and watches. The painting has fine details and is smooth. Description of the ‘Andalusian Dog’ This film earned Dali and Bunuel international recognition. It presents the real surrealist concept. From the title, it brings out this concept because it reflects a dog which appears nowhere in the images. The images depict terror and violence. The surrealists revealed that the film meant nothing but in real sense, the images compel an individual to associate the image with some meaning on watching it severally (Artists Blank Canvas). The first portrays a razor tampering with the eye of a woman and on slicing it, the contents of the eye bursting out. At first glance, the illustration is so scaring but the viewer get blinding by another image. In real sense, the eye belongs to a donkey. This scene is symbolic although the Dali and Bunuel claim that it has no symbolism (Weidemann and Dali 124). The images in the film lack any form of connection. They represent dream sort of and nothing needs to be real or connected in any dream. The images create all sorts of illusions. There are scenes representing a boy cycling and finally falls with his box. In a different scene, the boy has a hole in his arm and ants are moving into the hole. The surrealists present another scene where the boy shoots his father. There are sensual images of a nude woman. The film also explores the sex theme. All images in this film portray unrelated violence and in between are time lapses. Rationality is greatly lacking and this supports the artists’ idea that a film may be a collection of images from a dream. Nothing needs to add up. Events flow and time passes. The film has received criticism and varying interpretations. All these are right because it is but a dream. Description of ‘The secret life of Salvador Dali’ In this book, Dali reveals himself to the people. He writes about himself and describes all he can remember about his childhood (Dali and Chevalier 35). The book begins by a presentation of his portrait. In part one, he describes his birth and gives details of his childhood. He elaborates his childhood memories. He classifies them into two because some were illusions while others were true memories. Part 2 describes experiences of being a teenager. In addition, he describes his pain after the loss of his mother (Dali and Chevalier 115). He then takes the reader to settings in the art academy and the events that defined his life. He describes his suspension and final expulsion from the academy. The last subtitle in part 2 explains his departure to Paris and the subsequent events. In this part, he relates how he met the woman who changed his life, Gala. He then lets the reader know that his love story led to rejection by family. In the last part of the book, he elaborates his understanding about the start of society. He then relates his experience in the surrealist movement and his conception of the paranoiac aspect in art. He does not forget to give details of the contribution and value of Gala to his life and career. To conclude the book, he describes death and resurrection in his view and relates events that led to his return to Spain (Dali and Chevalier 369). In this book, Dali opens up his world to the world. This makes his readers create a link between his life, work, and history. Dali Museum in Florida Elena and Reynolds Morse were very close friends and fans to Salvador Dali. During their long time friendship, they had the opportunity to acquire oils, paintings, watercolors, sculptures, graphics and photographs done by Salvador. At first, they had a display in their home in Cleveland. With time, the collection increased and they opened a small museum Beachwood in1971 in honor of Dali. In 1982, they moved the collection to Florida. The museum remains in Florida up to date. However, the several expansions have taken place and the latest expansion was in 2011. The 2011 launch of the Dali museum saw the opening of a larger building and an amazing architectural design. The design captures the eye, reflects on shapes, and images that Dali liked. The designer drew inspiration from the interests of Dali. The design portrays the appreciation of art. There are spaces reserved for Dali’s work. Today, it is possible to view Salvador Dali’s artwork from the greatest museum archiving Dali’s work in America. The museum offers a chronological order of Dali’s work and this gives the viewer an experience of Dali’s growth in art. The work is available in different sizes from small pieces to vast masterpieces. One of the oldest artworks displayed rates back to when Dali was thirteen years. The movement from one art movement is evident until Dali reached the classical surrealism. The museum offers varying opportunities. These range from tours designed for different ages and there are docent guides ready to offer explanations and address the needs of visitors. Occasionally, the museum offers lecture series on different issues concerning the Dali experience and surrealism. Besides, there are film series and music programs that seek to promote the modern surrealism (Dali Museum Inclusive). The museum has different membership programs. Scholars and students can access membership at reduced rates as long as they have valid identity cards. Individual membership is also available. Families can access cards for the parents, children, and grand children. In addition, they offer membership cards to zodiac group members who offer various forms of support to the museum. This usually applies to one individual. In other cases, zodiac members can get membership as family. The museum offers upper level membership for individual belonging to three groups. These include the Dadaist, the surrealists, and visionaries. Each of the membership group enjoys different types of benefits and pay at different rates. There are no charges for visiting the store, theater, and the coffee gala. The museum is usually open on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 10a.m to 5.30p.m. On Thursday, the museum opens at 10a.m and closes at 8.pm while on Sunday it opens at noon and closes at 5.30p.m. The museum promotes education through different offers to students and scholars. Students can access services at lowered rates as long as they produce valid identity cards. Student visitors receive guided tours in the museum with guides giving them the necessary explanations. Students benefit greatly from the vast collection of artwork from Dali, this being the largest of his museums outside Europe. Students can act as volunteers in the museum and this presents them with a chance to learn more. Internship programs are also available in the museum and qualified students can benefit greatly from the opportunity. The internship is subject to adjustment to suit the schedule of the students. Chances are available three times a year. The museum offers several educational resources available for students and teachers that prove useful for familiarization with the collection at Dali. There is a downloadable teacher’s guide that provides some paintings and offers descriptions of some of the paintings that students are likely to come across in the museum. It also presents Dali’s biography and enlists the opportunities available for students. In addition, this guide gives an elaborate description of the museum. Available online are lesson plans that cover a wide variety of disciplines. These le3sson plans introduce both the teacher and students to the different disciplines. The guide design aims at making student educational visits more productive and beneficial. In addition, there is the ‘Get Surreal’ DVD designed as an introduction to students and teachers and is currently available on YouTube. The short DVD introduces surrealism to the students and present s them with challenging activities for them to try out the surreal experience (Dali Museum Inclusive). The museum has an online hub for crafts suited for students. Students can download these and experience surrealism. There is an additional package of students’ work available online to help students in art classes. Although the museum promotes student tours through lowered charges and discounts, some students are unable to pay visits to the museum. Dali museum addresses the needs of such students and a crew from the museum visits such schools with facilities and resources that help student gain familiarity with the m use um collection. However, the crew only visits schools in some counties. Nevertheless, the arrangement is a real privilege for the students. In addition, the museum displays artwork from upcoming and modern surrealists. Dali’s collection receives the first priority but other compelling artworks that qualify in bringing out the surrealist idea receive recognition and awards. Often, the museum invites students for art competition that aims at promoting surrealism. A recent competition required students to come with pieces of art that seemed strangely familiar. Students presenting the best art pieces receive recognition and awards and their artworks go into the museum display. The competition is on an annual basis and students from both private and public schools can participate. Alongside the art show, there is a surrealist film competition in the Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The film competition requires students to portray surrealist creativity and come up with a collection of images in film. The images must bring out an idea that is ‘strangely familiar’. These competitions seek to promote surrealism among art students today (Dali Museum Inclusive). Salvador Dali’s work still receives attention from the entire globe. He left behind a legacy of paranoia in his art and real surrealism. This conforms to his assertion that he was surrealism itself. He blended talent with artistic adventure, went wild with in thought and imagination, and expressed that in art. His work evokes all types of reaction from people. His work received international recognition because it was unique and compelling. Salvador created a personal brand for himself in appearance and work and with such uniqueness; he stood out among other artists of his time. Although some people claim that he over commercialized his work, an analytical view reveals that he deserved the credit for his work. Work Cited Artists Blank Canvas. The Famous Spanish Surrealist Artist – Salvador Dali, 2009. Web, 15 April 2012, from http://www.artistsblankcanvas.co.uk/Art-Articles/Salvador-Dali.html Dali Museum. Clocking in with Salvador Dali. Web, 15th April 2012. Dali, Salvador and Chevalier, Haakon. The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. London:Dover, 1993. Print. Grimes, David and Becnel, Tom. Florida Curiosities, 3rd. Guilford: Globe Pequot, 2011. Print James, Philip. Salvador Dali in Formation. Guilford: Cv Publications, 2004. Print. Klein, Adam and Dali, Salvador. Salvador Dali. Minneapolis:ABDO, 2006. Print. Ross, Michael. Salvador Dali and the Surrealists: Their Lives and Ideas : 21 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003. Print. The Dali Museum Inclusive. Salvador Dali Biography. Web, 15 April 2012, from http://thedali.org/history/biography.html Weidermann, Christiane and Dali, Salvador. Salvador Dali. New York: Prestel, 2007. Print. Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well. New York: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More