Salvador Dali Research Paper

The art movement, Surrealism, is “the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations”. It was around the early 1920's when this art movement originated and was born out of Dadaism, but was officially consecrated in Paris by a poet, Andre Breton. The major themes of this movement is mystery and imagination. When it comes to Surrealism, there is more to it than the eye can see. The whole process behind this movement is to reveal the berserk, or uncontrolled thoughts and imagination of the subconscious. “The Surrealists sought to overthrow the oppressive rules of modern society by demolishing its backbone

Dali was born in Figueres, Spain on May 11, 1904 and died on January 23, 1989. He is best known for his painting “The Persistence of Memory”which was made in 1931, but has many other artworks and photography. It is said that he grew up with a mother that he loved who encouraged him in his artistic abilities, on the other hand, his father was the opposite and very strict with his disciplining. Dali grew up in an unusual, perhaps even an abusive environment. From a very young age, Dali was told by his parents that he was the reincarnation of his dead brother, who was also named Salvador. When Dali's mother passed away, his father married his deceased wife's sister. It's no doubt that growing up living in his environment lead to his Surrealist phase. In 1921, Dali began his journey at Madrid School of Fine Arts, but was later on expelled due to his unreasonable outbursts. Dali had worked with different art styles such as

In this work, Dali intensifies the visual experience by emphasizing the texture. Texture plays a huge role into this work and is what gives off the illusion of the melting figures. Even though Dali was using oil paints he was able to to create different textures; such as the jaggedness of the rocks and cliffs, the clear and freshness of the water, the roughness of the bark, the smoothness of the clocks, etc. The main and most used principle the painting displays is movement. Dali created an optical illusion for his viewers with the melting clocks to give off the impression that their was really metal dripping. The placement of the ants on the bronze clock creates a sense of motion as if the ants were stirred up and scattering on top one another. In the background, the cliff seems to be standing perfectly still, but if you focus on that area you can see the cracks and that it is