Salvador Dali said about himself: "Surrealism is me!". His paintings are inimitable: mystical, unreal and full of the most bizarre dreams. In Dali's paintings, there is always a complex plot, which would be enough for several seasons of a surrealistic series. They changed the idea of art. Looking at these paintings, we begin to understand that art is not only beautiful, it is a portal to the parallel universes of the minds of great creators.
1. The Persistence of Memory (1931)
The Persistence of Memory is not only the most famous painting in the career of Salvador Dali, but also the most famous surrealist work on the planet Earth. The iconic image of a melting pocket watch has been seen time and time again as it has been reproduced in various media around the world. Dali said that the painting "The Persistence of Memory" was born after he saw melting cheese on hot toast. He tried to portray the non-linearity of time, its fluidity and irreversibility. During the process of painting, Dali complained of a headache, and it was displayed on the canvas in the form of a sleeping head. The artist pays a lot of attention to various details, and accurately creates them, despite the miniature size of the canvas. This miniature painting has become the most famous artwork of Dali's masterpieces. He loved this painting and was very proud of it. Perhaps because Gala said about it that if seen at least once, it would never be forgotten.
2. Sleep (1937)
As a true representative of surrealism, Dali paid great attention in his works to the theme of sleep as a reflection of the unconscious. The picture depicts a huge shapeless sleeping head, resembling an empty bag, which is supported by a lot of thin props. Even swollen eyelids rely on props. The head is in the blue infinite space, which enhances the unreality of what is happening. Even a small dog in this dream is depicted away from the head and needs support. Dali painted this picture under the impression of his dreams, in which he tried to forget himself.
3. Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944)
It is impossible to look away indifferently and not admire the beautiful figure of the model. This is the muse and love of Dali's whole life - Elena Dyakonova, whom he called Gala. But besides the beloved Gala, there is also a reminder of another hobby of the artist - psychoanalysis. All elements of the picture together become an illustration for the "Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud - Dali's favorite book. This painting is one of Dali's numerous artworks created using his particular surrealist technique, which he always referred to as "hand-painted dream photography".
4. The Great Masturbator (1929)
And again a huge sleeping head on the whole canvas. "The Great Masturbator" is another very peculiar painting by Salvador Dali, created in the era of surrealism. In the center, we can see a distorted face of a man, turned down. The canvas also presents the widest range of elements that can easily relate to traumatic experiences in Dali's youth and some other conditions from which he suffered already at a more mature age. He kept this work of art until his death, and after Dali passed away, it was bequeathed to the Spanish state..
5. Leda Atomica (1949)
Salvador Dali was struck by the explosion of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The very physics of atoms interested the artist so much that he found similarities between atoms and himself. Dali did not tolerate contact with other people, except for his adored Gala. Similarly, atoms never touch each other, but constantly repel each other. According to this principle, the composition of "Atomic Leda" is built. Nothing in it touches each other. In the image of Leda, the wife of the Spartan king, who was seduced by Zeus, the beautiful Gala appears.
6. The Face of War (1940)
"The Face of War" is a real horror and an impression of the bloodthirstiness of war. Dali began to write this canvas right on the ship, on which he and his wife sailed to the USA. Colossal events prompted the master to urgent work. He was eager to pour his emotions onto the canvas.
This is one of the few works of the artist, which clearly speaks of his thoughts and state of mind. The person's face is shown against the backdrop of an arid desert landscape and is full of despair and anxiety. In the mouth and eye sockets of the head, which is considered to be infinitely divisible, there are identical faces. To add to the drama of the plot even more, poisonous biting snakes swarm around this face. This picture is a real cry, a warning to mankind, a premonition of an impending catastrophe for the whole world.
7. Galatea of the Spheres (1952)
The work belongs to the nuclear-mystical period of Dali's work, inspired by the artist's passion for science and the theory of atomic decay. The face of Galatea is formed by a fragmented medium filled with spheres, which acquires an unusual perspective and three-dimensional appearance on the axis of symmetry of the canvas. "Galatea with spheres" can be attributed to the genre of "atomic pointillism", since for a holistic perception of the face of Gala, a certain distance between the viewer and the canvas is required, in fact, as is the case with the artworks by any impressionists.
Salvador Dali left this world in 1989, only a few years outliving his muse and beloved wife Gala. This person is considered autistic and too eccentric. Many do not like him, many criticize him, but no one denies the genius of this artist, who created the most unforgettable images in painting.
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