Surrealism & Salvador Dalí
Dalí, The Elephants, 1948
Surrealism
Have you ever woken up
from a dream wondering
what in the world it meant?
Dalí, The Three Sphinxes of Bikini, 1947
Starting in the 1920s, a group of artists called Surrealists were making strange
and unusual paintings influenced by dreams and their imaginations.
Magritte, Fair Captive, 1945
Like dreams, these paintings mixed pieces of the real world with bizarre,
fantastic elements that could only come from a person’s mind.
Magritte, Human Condition, 1935
Ernst, Oedipus Rex, 1922
These artistic works often did not make logical sense and left viewers
wondering what in the world they meant.
Salvador Dalí
• Salvador Dalí was the most famous
of the Surrealist artists.
• Dalí was born May 11th, 1904, in
Figueras, Catalonia, Spain. He died in
1989.
• Best known for his paintings, Dalí
was also a sculptor, book illustrator,
movie and theater set designer.
• He was an excellent self-promoter
with his signature waxed mustache.
• He loved to surprise and shock to
make people think about more than
what they could see with their eyes.
“The only difference between
the Surrealists and me is that I
am a Surrealist.”
– Salvador Dalí
Dali was influenced by many artists from different periods in art including
classical painters like the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.
Vermeer, View of Delft, circa 1660 - 1661
Dalí, Average Pagan Landscape, 1937
• Precise realism and the ominous, swirling light in many of Dalí’s paintings
were strongly influenced by the works of Vermeer.
• How does Dalí’s sky make you feel?
What makes it Surreal?
Dalí, Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition, 1934
PRECISE REALISM a launching point into fantasy.
LAWS OF NATURE REVERSED objects are living & living things become objects.
JUXTOPOSITION objects placed side by side for striking comparison or contrast.
DISLOCATION objects are placed where they aren’t usually placed.
SYMBOLISM reoccurring objects represent Dalí’s ideas, memories or dreams.
What makes it Surreal?
Dalí, Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition, 1934
PRECISE REALISM almost photo-realistic painting of objects and landscape.
LAWS OF NATURE REVERSED the woman is an object. A shadow of a bottle on a dresser is a hole.
JUXTAPOSITION woman and objects are bigger than the boats. Tiny dresser next to the big dresser.
DISLOCATION why is there furniture on the shoreline?
SYMBOLISM the crutch (be on the lookout for egg shapes, clocks, pianos, ants, crickets)
What makes it Surreal?
Dalí, The Persistence of Memory, 1931
TRANSFORMATION objects become unusual / strange
INFLUENCE OF DREAMS + DAYDREAMING images of the mind are captured on canvas
One of Dalí’s most popular SYMBOLS was the melting watch. He was inspired
one hot day when he noticed some runny Camembert cheese. To Dalí, the oozing cheese
resembled a melting watch, so immediately he painted three melting
watches on his canvas.
What makes it Surreal?
Dalí, The Dream, 1931
Have you ever seen what looked sort of like objects or faces in clouds? Dalí saw faces and
forms in the rocks and landscapes he lived near. Like the melting clocks, Dalí wanted to
capture what his imagination saw.
What other Surreal elements can you find in this painting?
What makes it Surreal?
Dalí, Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages),1940
HIDDEN + DOUBLE IMAGES Dalí used hidden and double images (images that
exist as two different things at the same time) to challenge his viewers sense of
reality, creating feelings of danger and delight.
What do you see?
Creating a Sense of Space
When placing objects in a painting, Dalí
used several classic techniques to make his
landscapes or settings have depth.
1. SIZE -- Larger sized objects in front, middle
sized objects in the mid-ground, and smaller
sized objects in the far distance.
2. COLOR -- Brighter purer colors in the
foreground, more neutral colors in the far
ground. Warm colors up front, cooler hues in the
distance.
3. TEXTURES -- Textures in the foreground,
few or no details in the background areas.
4. EDGE QUALITY -- Hard edges in front,
softer edges in the distance.
Dalí, Sun Table, 1936
5. PERSPECTIVE -- Lines that recede to the
vanishing point (where there is nothing left to
see). Also - use of a horizon line to show where
the earth and sky meet.
Get Surreal!
With a few cut-out
objects from real life,
pastel chalk and
colored pencils, we’ll
make our own dream
worlds inspired by the
surreal paintings of
Salvador Dalí’.
Can you find the hidden
objects?
Sample, Loch Ness Boot, 2012
Instructional Resources + Credits
Dali Museum / Video
“Get Surreal with Salvador Dali” video by the Dali Museum, St. Petersburg,
Florida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ST52WsmUIM
Dali Museum / Educational Resources / Key Works
http://www.thedali.org/education/docz/KeyWorks.pdf
Dali Museum / Educational Resources / Teacher Guide
http://www.thedali.org/education/docz/TeacherGuide.pdf
Dali Museum / Educational Resources / “The Surreal Deal” Lesson Plan 2
http://thedali.org/education/docz/LessonPlan2-TheSurrealDeal.pdf
Publication (available in the Duniway Library / Teacher Resources )
Dali, Gilles Néret, Thunder Bay Press, 1997
Carol Jensen’s Water Color World
http://caroljessen.blogspot.com/2012/01/receding-space.html
“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”
– Salvador Dalí