Salvador Dali Research Paper

“I am a rather mediocre painter in what I produce. The genius lies in my vision, not in what I am in the process of creating.” – Salvador Dali

The extraordinary Salvador Dali was an egocentric man with a twisted and often peculiar view on life. Today he is considered one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Although considered to be the great surrealist, much more than just the Surrealism movement influenced Dali. From the moment of his birth, this unusual individual would find inspiration in unusual places and in his inner most thoughts and turmoil’s, thus creating some of the most memorable art the world would ever see. His inspiration seemingly derived from his abundant imagination, his dreams, his view on life, death,

Seemingly obsessed with death straight from the womb, claiming to live his death before living his life. This was due to the death of his parents first born, 3 years prior to his birth. Bearing the same name, Salvador lived in his dead brother’s shadow, in between what he recalls, the ghost of his brother and God himself. (Dali, 2004) I believe that this laid out his obsession with the womb and with death itself, in which influenced many of his greatest artworks. After reading his autobiography, Maniac Eyeball, The Unspeakable Confessions of Salvador Dali”, I was fascinated to learn that he was very egocentric and did everything in his power to see his own father suffer, but held his mother in high regard throughout his life. His frenzied mindset was captivating in the sense that it was what inspired him the most in the art he created, whether it be through his feeling that he was half of a person or how he saw the world through his eyes. Dali did not want to be like any other person on the planet and did everything in his power to make sure he wasn’t, this is why he dressed in the fashion that he did and looked the way he did. He was a one of a kind fanatic that was a fantastic visionary of the time. He was able to see things that others were not able to see and because of this he became on of the greatest surrealists of his time. (Dali,

Bull fighting being a main pastime for Spaniards is the main theme throughout, although death seems to be the overall concept. The amazing double imagery in the painting is captivating, hidden faces in the Venus and then the overall face of the bullfighter within those faces shows off how talented and skillful Dali truly was. Dali painted himself into the piece in the bottom left corner, portrayed as a child with flies painted throughout as well, which I believe were influenced by his obsession with decay and death. The bull having died, the flies would surround its decomposing body. Him watching this happen as he watched the bat die and the insects ravage a decomposing body of a porcupine in his youth. (Dali, 2004) Roses are also painted throughout, maybe symbolizing life in the opposite sense, the bull dies and the bullfighter triumphs and the flies feed off the bull and the roses alive soon wilt and die, thus representing the never ending circle of life. The influence of this painting drawn from his feeling of being half alive and his obsession with death and illness, once again. His beloved wife, Gala is painted higher up on the painting as if of more importance, viewing her dislike of this event and as if she is being put on a pedestal like that of his mother.