SurrealismSalvador Dali

May 11, 1904 – Jan. 23, 1989

The Persistence of Memory

Medium: Oil Paint

Year: 1931

Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach

Medium: Oil Paint

Year: 1938

Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time

Medium: Collage, Gouache, Pastel, Paperboard

Year: 1939

The Face of War

Medium: Oil Paint

Year: 1940

Galatea of the Spheres

Medium: Oil Paint

Year: 1952

Style: SurrealismThe definition of “Surrealism” is the avant-garde movement in art and literature during the 20th century that started in Paris, France. Artists sought out the creativity of the unconscious mind by using illogical juxtaposition of images.

The description of “Surrealism” is a style of art in which the artist paints illogical scenes and strange creatures from everyday objects. They develop painting techniques that allowed the unconscious mind to express itself.

Analyzation

The area of emphasis in Salvador Dali’s artwork, “The Persistence of Memory” is the three melting clocks and a strange creature lying on the desert floor. Dali made this stand out by making the objects lighter in contrast.Dali also used movement in the melting clocks, amount of space in the landscape that seems to go further beyond, smooth texture that seems dreamlike and a variety of different shapes, colors and sizes.

Interpretation

What we think Salvador Dali was trying to communicate about his artwork is the concept of a dream state. His artwork depicts the melting clocks symbolizing the passage of time we experience while dreaming. We think an emotion he was trying to convey was persistence. The clocks look powerless in the dream world and they are literally melting away because of that.

EvaluationWe think Salvador Dali’s artwork is successful because of the clear composition between a dreamlike, fantasy scene and a realistic landscape. We like this artwork because it’s like a symbolic image of the start of surrealism. We chose Salvador Dali because he is one of the most recognized surrealist artist in the artist community and he is known for his bizarre images or scenes in his surrealist work. Also, we believe that this artwork is priceless because of how famous and well known it is but if the Museum of Modern Art were to sell the painting it’d be over $40 million.

Artist StatementI created an artwork that uses the style of Surrealism, similar to the artist Salvador Dali. My artwork shows influence from this style by using

juxtaposition of illogical images and scenes. The EMOTION I was trying to express with this artwork is: a dreamlike, fantasy scene. I showed this by using more fluorescent colors and

mythological creatures. The area of DOMINANCE in my artwork is the Earth. This area stands out because it’s in the middle and has a brighter contrast.

Artist Statement

The subject of the scene is the moon. The picture is about a city at night and people’s minds roaming

freely while their dreams comes to life. To create this scene I used a compilation of images. The area of

dominance in my artwork is the street light. This area stands out because it’s the brightest area and it has lines that are leading to it. Also the colors around it

are darker making it stand out.