Salvador Dalí

Artist 217

Salvador Dalí Surrealism Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis of Dalí de Púbol famously known as Salvador Dalí ( born 1904- 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship and the striking and bizarre images in his work. He was influenced by Impressionism and the Renaissance masters from a young age he became increasingly attracted to Cubism and avant-garde movements.

He moved closer to Surrealism in the late 1920s and joined the Surrealist group in 1929, soon becoming one of its leading exponents. Dalí's artistic repertoire included painting, graphic arts, film, sculpture, design and photography, at times in collaboration with other artists. He also wrote fiction, poetry, autobiography, essays and criticism. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science and his closest personal relationships.

key symbolism in his work revolved around the themes of food, animals and science. Egg, bread and sea urchins were commonly used in his food symbolism In an interesting fact whilst the famous "melting watches" that appear in ‘The Persistence of Memory’ (1931) suggest Einstein's theory that time is relative and not fixed. Dalí later claimed that the idea for clocks functioning symbolically in this way came to him when he was contemplating Camembert cheese.

With animals the elephant is a recurring image in Dalí's work. The rhinoceros and rhinoceros horn shapes signified divine geometry because it grows in a logarithmic spiral. Animals like rotting donkeys and ants have been pointed as death, decay, and sexual desire and locusts as a symbol of waste and fear. Dalí's lifelong interest in science and mathematics was often reflected in his work. In his Anti-Matter Manifesto of his desire to create the iconography of the interior world of physics and of psychology.

“Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy —the joy of being Salvador Dalí— and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” - Salvador Dalí In a world of self doubt and search for meaning Salvador Dalí was undoubtedly purely true to himself. “You have to systematically create confusion, it sets creativity free. Everything that is contradictory creates life” - Salvador Dalí

Fun bonus facts The exhibition photos are from Espace Dalí which is a small museum in Montmartre dedicated to the works of Salvador Dalí. Dalí was mainly known for his surrealist paintings, but this museum has mostly drawings, sculptures, engravings, litho\graphs, and even a little room of surrealist furniture he designed and I have been there myself it is a beautiful space and a definite must see when in Paris #salvadordali #salvadordalí #surrealismart #painting #sculptureart #artblog #artistoftheday #artistsoninstagram #artresearch #celebratingart #investigatingart #blog #artist #art #contemporaryart #artistbio #arthistory #artresearch Sources consulted: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD