Реферат: Salvador Dali & Surrealism
SALVADOR DALI & SURREALISM
Surrealism (from French surrealisme — supernaturalism) — amodernistic direction in the art, appeared after the First World War in France,during 1920s. Its founders considered surrealism as a way to recognizesubconscious, or supernatural. By definition of the founder, and the ideologistof this direction AndréBretonthe surrealism is " the pure mental automatism, the purpose ofwhich is to express, either orally, or in writing, everyday ideas. Surrealism is a dictation of ideas beyond anycontrol of mind, beyond any aesthetic or moral imaginations." (Ades 28)Artists weren’t only creating new style in art and literature, but, first ofall, they were modifying the world and life. Surrealists were sure that inconceivable was beginning to incarnate theearth.
The formation of Surrealism takes its roots from Dadaism. Theimpudent art arisen in conditions of horror and disappointment of the artistsbefore the major catastrophe – the European revolutions (1916-1918). This eventshattered Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany. Dadaism basically rejectedany positive aesthetic value, and offered an “antiaesthetic” value foreverything. For Dadaists everything " reasonable, kind, eternal " hadfailed, and the world appeared to be unfair, mean, and ugly. The values ofDadaists were to destroy any style of beauty by means of «ugliness».Revolt of Dadaist had somewhat settled in the middle of 1920s. Dadaists mainlyrelied on “accidental effects” as a main working tool. Artists began drippingpaint on canvas, and forming irrational configurations. The surrealisticattitude towards inconceivable, or to theelements of chaos is directly grown from Dadaistic roots. But surrealists trendin art wasn’t simply to destroy, but create through destruction. The bohemiananarchism of Dadaists had a strong affect on Dali, and therefore he became atrue follower of their scandalous behavior. (Faerna, 32-40)
Surrealists hunted for unpredicted in order to free from the controlof the mind. (For example, they placed a sheet of a paper on rough surfaces andrubbed a paper with dry paints, and received fantastic configurations remindingof thickets of a fantastic wood.) But great masters weren’t satisfied with suchprimitive methods of painting. They had to achieve internal irrationality ormindless state of mental life. For this purpose, forms of visual self-hypnosiswere practiced. They created «bewitching» forces by staring at themovement of fire, or the movement of clouds, or etc. Transition from«mechanical» perceptions to «psychological” (orpsychoanalytical) perception, gradually influenced all masters of surrealism.(Descharnes, 8)
Surrealists assembled meetings or „trainings“ which werenamed as sommeils – or „dreams in reality “. They played during thesemeetings. They were interested in accidental and unconscious semanticcombinations, which occurred during „bouts-rimes (word game).” Each ofthem made a phrase, not knowing about the words made by the other participantsof the game. So, once they came up with a phrase “The refined corpse willdrink a fine wine » was invented. The purpose of this game was to train tofree your consciousness and logic. By doing so they were able to gain chaoticforces from the chasms of subconscious. By this way, ideas of surrealism hadreally turned into an explosive: destroying everything on its way, shatteringany truth or a principle based on a reason, belief, virtue, or ideal beauty. Itdestroyed beauty that was viewed by radical innovators as art. They viewed lifeas a synonym of deceit, and lifelessness. Many surrealists did not focus muchon techniques of painting, they were interested in the outcome of thepainting. The burst of nihilism wasformed among young artists during those times. Not having faith in anything,they also drew this “ANYTHING."
Dali’s surrealism, doesn’t present any politics, an intimate life,an aesthetic beauty, a history, or anything else. In his art there is only aSurrealistic Creativity, which transforms everything into something new as itcontacts it. Dali painted about everything that was essential for the person ofthat time. The themes of his painting varied from sexual revolution topreparation of meal. Some of other themes of his paintings were civil war,nuclear explosions, Nazism, Catholic beliefs, science, or classical art. Forsane people, Dali’s art was something inconceivable and shocking. Somehow heeven built a so-called “surrealistic object,” which was absolutely not suitablefor actual use. This was his embodiment of his obsessive ideas, and manias.This object was called “the astral chair.” The chair’s leather coating wasreplaced by chocolate coating, a door handle was screwed on one leg, and otherleg stood on a mug with beer. Surely such a chair would simply collapse by theimpact of a door swing, spilling the beer all over the floor, and causing analarm and confusion for the people around it.
Dali alienated himself from his colleagues. Therefore they turnedagainst Dali. His friends started denying Dali’s art. AndréBreton after another disagreement with the artist, made an anagram ofletters of his name “Avida Dollars – Dollar Thirsty.” He hinted that all thatDali created, had an advertising character, and are directed strictly at makingmoney, and that art itself had no value for him.
Dali sometimes proclaimed to be the only unique surrealist. And atthe same time he said that, «Painting is the color photo made by a brush». But it’s useless to blame Dali for inconsistency, because irrationality– was his value and element of thinking and painting. This method was the truedescription of Dali’s style both in life, and in art. Dali has literallytreated all those ideas, principles, values, and people with whom he associatedwith impudently, and disrespectfully. He implemented the ideas of surrealism tothe extent. Dali is dangerous to the silent human nature; he is dangerous forhumans’ «well-being» because he discredits senses and values of humanculture. He discredits both religion and godlessness, both Nazism and antifascism,both admirations of art, and avant-guard revolt against them, both belief inthe humanity and disbelief in it.
Dali searched for new decisions, and forms of art starting from hischildhood. Once, he painted a still life painting with only three colors on anold worn-out door. He used the door instead of canvas. It surprised him thatthis still-life painting amazed his friends and relatives. It was the image ofa handful of the berries put under the sun. Then someone from spectators hadnoticed, that at cherries were missing tails. The young artist had forgotten topaint them. He quickly ate the berries that he was drawing earlier, andattached the real tails to the still-life painting. He pulls out the woodwormsof old door, and attached them to berries, and he created painting with livewoodworms and real berry tails. At seeing this, the spectators wereoverwhelmed.
Having entered the School of fine Arts in Madrid, Dali hoped to findworthy teachers. He hoped to find someone who could teach him the sacred craftof drawing, but he very soon got disappointed. He publicly declared that hedidn’t want to be tested by those teachers who «knew almost nothing, andincapable of anything.” Therefore he got expelled from the art school. Headmired the great masters of Italian Renaissance. He explained how hissurrealistic creativity began. He wrote, „The inevitable happened -herecomes Dali. The core surrealist, moved by “will and authority.» Heproclaimed unlimited freedom from any aesthetic or moral compulsions, anddeclared that it is possible to go up to the extreme limits of any artisticexperiments, as long as you don’t care about any consequence. (Gibson, 6-9)
All this wasn’t only his private affair; it was the purpose ofsurrealism. Dali truly was the surrealist to the core. Everything he touched orspoke about turned into surrealistic images. Dali in his life mainly focused onhis surrealistic «ego.”
The artist hascreated some sort of „password“ that led to the secrets of hiscreativity and personality. His masterpieces and graphic works are constructedlike texts. In his works, he presents the history of World’s culture as aseries of metaphors. And same kinds of citations are applicable to his mastersof the past. In his painting „Spain“, we see the resemblance toLeonardo da Vinci’s drawings. And in his portraits and still-life drawings wecan relate to Italian painter of XVI century Arcimboldi Giuseppe. (Descharnes, 27)
<img src=»/cache/referats/17713/image002.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_s1027">Dali perfectly managed to change the format of an art on an easelpainting. The extended horizontal canvas are full of narration, that containconsecutive display of metamorphosis («Metamorphosis of Narcissus.»Oil on canvas, 20 1/8x30 3/8 inches, 1937)
The vertical stretched canvas changes the dynamics of the picture,adding solemnity to it Dali thought that horizon in the paintings were veryessential.” The low horizon gives an image some sort of theatrical look (forexample, «The Sacrament of the Last Super.” Oil on canvas, 65 5/8x105½ inches, 1955)
<img src=»/cache/referats/17713/image004.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_s1031">
In his compositions with high horizon, the features close to thefolklore beginning are seen. The images have ornamental — symbolical character.The artist loved big canvases. His wide canvases are similar to those ofmedieval masters. The main value of works of Dali consists of creation ofmagnificent picturesque and graphic images. The artist presents himself in hispaintings, as the refined colorist, brilliant painter, master of complexity,and yet architectonically conceivable painter (Ades, 17). Those paintings, inwhich Dali transforms the sign into artistic images, are authentic masterpiecesof paintings and graphics. The tragic gift of Salvador Dali has found itsbright reflection in his one of the most famous painting called " Softconstruction with boiled beans – Premonition of Civil War." (Oil oncanvas, 29 5/16x39 3/8 inches, 1936)
<img src="/cache/referats/17713/image006.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_s1029">
The background ofthe painting is covered with cloudy sky. There is an inconceivable figure thathas human body parts, and the face that is in total agony. The hand is holdingthe breast that doesn’t have a body, it has a head, and a neck with inflatedveins, and from there onward comes a leg that is standing on the other part ofhuman body that stretches out diagonally. And in the middle of this diagonallystretched body part, there is a small locker – a design that Dali frequentlypresented in his paintings as an illusion of stability of ordinary life. Thereare beans all over the ground, and an ordinary man, near this figure lookingdown to the ground. The horizon is given low in this picture, covering onlysmall part of the ground. The picture has an enormous anti-war pathos. It has avery expressive message in its composition, contrast color combinations, and alinear composition.
The unusualgift of Salvador Dali, his overwhelming creativity makes him a genius of hisage. His art presents the humanistic symbol of his century. Surrealism is notan artistic movement; it is an artistic thinking of how to interact with world.When one journalist asked Salvador Dali “what the surrealism was, Dali answeredthat Surrealism is Dali himself, and he had a full right to say so.
<span Times New Roman",«serif»;mso-fareast-font-family: «Times New Roman»;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Works Cited
Ades, Dawn. Dali’soptical Illusion. Wadworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in association with YaleUniversity Pres Ney Haven and London, 1999.
Descharnes,Robert. Dali. Harry N. Abrams Publishers, New York 2000
Faerna, Jose Maria, ed. Dali. Trans.Teresa Waldes. Harry n. Abrams, Inc., Publishers 2000.
Gibson, Ian. TheShameful life of Salvador Dali. W. W. Norton & Company:
New York, 1998.