The Works of Salvador Dali

IzayaAbdurakhmanov11/23/10

MHC 100Arts in NYC

The Works of Salvador Dali

Everyone is familiar with art, how it comes in different forms, expresses many emotions, and affects the way we view certain things. Some forms art more than others may have an effect on those viewing, but nonetheless art exists to express and evoke. One example of art is visual art such as paintings. Artists who specialize in painting focus on expression though still images, color, depth, and content. The way each artist exhibits these factors is what separates artists from one another.

One specific artist, Salvador Dali, was well known for his surrealist paintings.Now what does surrealist exactly mean? To answer that, let us first begin with the Surrealist movement. Surrealism began in the 1920s as a cultural movement to rebel against existing ideals of the upper class society during the First World War. Artists from European countries involved in the war such as France, were fed up with the ideals and values of the wealthy that were predominant during their times because they believed that it was those values that caused the conflict of the war to spread. “Surrealism was decadent but… it nourished” meaning that it was sort of a decaying of classical ideals and the way it survived was by the desire to break away from ideals (Berger 6). Thus, artists who were part of this movement began to create surprising, bizarre, and unconventional works of art, which were the trademarks of Surrealism (Wikipedia).

Salvador Dali (1904-1989), was a rather important figure in surrealism.Born in Catalonia, Spain, Dali was exposed to art since youth and pursued it.He attended various schools centered on the study of the arts. Dali was influenced by Cubism, which was another movement headed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Having met Picasso and revered him, Dali incorporated elements of cubism into his own paintings. In addition, Dali incorporated techniques of the classical era of painting as well as modern techniques. By utilizing influences of many kinds of art, Dali eventually developed his own highly imaginative, unusual, and grandiose artworks. On a side note, many viewed Dali’s persona as attracting more attention than his actual artwork. He was a rather ambitious and outspoken person, not afraid to do the unthinkable. This caused him to have many critics, even those who were surrealists themselves. He was seen as pompous, money-hungry, and insane. His vision of the world was different from others’. What we, as the viewers, take away is “ the memory of the artist’s way of looking at the world” (Berger 8).As Dali grew with age however, his critics were convinced that he was in fact insane, due to hallucinations and wild claims of major catastrophes.Nevertheless, Dali was considered an artistic genius whose paintings may have touched upon the fourth dimension on just a two dimensional surface (Coppens).

There were three specific paintings by Dali that really caught my attention. The Persistence of Memory, Still Life- Fast Moving, andThe Temptation of Saint Anthony, were each rather interesting. They all had similar recurring themes, symbols, and style as well as differences in content.

The Persistence of Memory was considered one of Dali’s most famous works. The setting of the painting is a barren wasteland with an ocean and view of mountains on the horizon. In the foreground there are three pocket watches supposedly melting and flopping atop their surfaces. One watch is slipping off a wooden counter top, the other is hanging on a withered tree branch like wet laundry, and the third watch is on top of what looks like a portion of a human face. The title of the painting helped me understand what the meaning of this painting could possibly be. The watches all represent time and the melting of these watches could signify the weariness and long passage of time. Since the title describes time as persistent, Dali is trying to show that time is “tired” but continues to exist. Its persistence causes everything around it to become withered and old. The tree branch is old, the land on which the watches are lying on is barren, and even the portion of the human face could be the effect time has on our age. Time is of course the main theme here and what Dali is perhaps trying to express is that time can in fact cease to exist after existing for so long. As seen through his other paintings, Dali incorporates certain theories of quantum physics such as those of Albert Einstein. This painting would be a good example of Einstein’s explanation that time is relative. Dali was familiar with Einstein’s theories and had his own “visions” of what the universe truly was. I find this painting so fascinating because of the way Dali used the melting of time as a way to show its persistence as well as the way he combined quantum physics with art. It is highly original and creative as his other paintings prove to be.

Still Life- Fast Moving is a painting in which Dali juxtaposes the fact that the painting is a still life with the anticipated motion of the objects in the painting. Dali specifically places objects such as a knife, bottle of vodka, a vase, and other household objects in positions in which the viewer knows are subject to falling due to gravity. However, the painting captures these objects frozen in midair. Just like the previous painting, the bright horizon and ocean view are visible in the background and another similarity is that there is a surreal factor to the painting in that every object is in a position above the surface, which would be impossible to achieve. The wavy shape of the spill from the bottle of vodka gives enhances the feeling that the setting is like outer space with very little gravity. The little bird in the midst of all the “levitating” objects also adds a surreal touch because it makes you think that every other object is flying, just like the bird. At the same time, it also makes you think that the bird is just another object, about to fall just like everything else surrounding it. Thus, this painting focuses on the juxtaposition of motion and still life while keeping Dali’s style intact with all the surreal elements to it. What I like most about this painting is the back and forth between one extreme (motion) and another (inertia) which also is reminiscent of the laws of physics.

The Temptation of Saint Anthonydisplays a very abstract image unlike the previous two paintings. The most striking of all in this painting are the extremely long and thin-limbed elephants and horses. The legs of these animals are so long that they tower above the clouds. Speaking of towers, one of the elephants actually has a tower protruding from its back! The most gallant of these animals is the horse which has it front legs up. All the way on the ground, there is a naked man holding a cross up to the horse as if he is about to be trampled and using the cross as defense. The naked man kneels on this wasteland while the animals are higher than the clouds, which creates a interesting juxtaposition. The height of the animals could represent heaven while everyone else below is bound to the earth. On top of some of the elephants are naked women which could represent what the title is saying, temptation. Perhaps the man holding the cross is Saint Anthony and maybe the naked women are tempting Saint Anthony to go to heaven. They are after all, painted almost as trophies atop the clouds. What I do not understand is why he seems to be holding a cross as if in fear when heaven is what most wanted to achieve getting to. Maybe the naked man is holding the cross not due to fear of what’s approaching him, but maybe to embrace heaven.This is indeed a strange painting, once again like nothing I have ever seen. Unlike the previous two, he does not incorporate any laws or theories of physics but the painting is still just as weird and surreal. The setting is also a barren wasteland just like in Persistence of Time and it takes place during the day.Salvador Dali’s paintings have each never failed to get me thinking about what they mean but this painting really required some more looking into.

Overall, Salvador Dali was a very interesting and intriguing artist whose works all had a complexity to them. Even though he may have been considered insane, I think his paintings were mind blowing in a way that they made me view the world so differently while still retaining the skill of a painter. Normally I would be most pleased my classic and European Renaissance paintings, but Dali’s surrealism was truly something beyond just aesthetically pleasing.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Selected Essays. Ed.Geoff Dyer. New York: Vintage Books, 2003. Print.

Coppens, Philip. "Salvador Dali: Painting the Fourth Dimension." Philip Coppens.com.

Web. 24 Nov. 2010. <

"Salvador Dalí." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Nov. 2010.

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