The Genius of Salvador Dali
In the early 1900s one of the world’s greatest and most distinguished artists was born. He created a way for an artists to enter a self-induced paranoid state and paint their subconscious thoughts on a canvas. This master of the surrealistic arts was a Spanish man by the name of (ethnicity) Salvador Dali. He completely changed the way artists approached their work and modified the traditional way an audience perceives what a painting depicts. Salvador Dali successfully revolutionized the art world by the surrealist paintings he devised through his past experiences, Critical Paranoia Method, and his true intentions in painting.
Dali’s Past
Salvador Dali was born on May 11th, 1904 in Figueres, Spain. The family villa located in Cadies was where the godfather of the surrealistic art form began his path to fame. Dali created his first painting here, which was a landscape painting that was dated back to 1910. Dali was heavily influenced by artwork from Ramon Pixtox. Historians suspect this is what sparked Dali’s passion for painting and his eventual creation of the Critical Paranoia method.
He was accepted and later expelled from the School of Fine Arts in Madrid. After his expulsion he traveled to Paris where he meets Picasso. In 1929 a friend of Dali introduces him to the surrealist group. He joins them and meets his future wife Gala. In 1930 Dali published a text called L’ane Pourri which is where he set up the framework of his Critical Paranoia method.
Dali’s Method
The Critical Paranoia method was developed by Dali and was made to create paintings that are embedded in the subconscious of the painter. Dali wanted to paint what people couldn’t normally see.
The method he devised involved Dali willingly tapping into the madness of men as stated by his quote “The only difference between myself and a madman, is that I’m not mad” (Library). Dali using this madness was able to paint using irrational thoughts and create unique distinctive ideas on how to view the world around you.
Using his madness Dali would be able to paint what he saw in this simulated paranoid state on the canvas in front of him. This method while not an ordinary method was very effective in getting Dali to draw unique paintings that project subconscious thought. Dali used this method on many of the famous surrealism paintings that are shown in museums around the world.
The Critical Paranoia method was comparable to the key method developed by the Capuchin monks. This method was achieved by sitting in front of a canvas with a brush in one hand while being in a state of drowsiness. The painter had a metal pan underneath his hand where the brush was so whenever he or she was about to fall asleep, they would drop the brush. This would make a loud clashing noise which would startle the painter. They would then be able to paint what they briefly saw in their subconscious dream.
Dali’s Intention
Dali was a famous artist who loved to create dreamlike paintings, Intention. One of Dali’s true intentions according to the Dali universe is to twist our usual thinking into and change what is normal and accepted (Salvador). What this means is to change society’s view on what they subconsciously accept as commonplace. Dali accomplished this goal with his paintings on changing the outlook that something is real, and something is a dream.
As seen in Dali’s work “The Persistence of Memory” Dali takes the concept of time which would ordinarily be impossible to paint and gives it an image that represents time fading. Time fading is an impossible concept to imagine let alone paint, yet Dali’s painting captures every aspect of it.
Dali changes the perception of what is normal and what is accepted again in his painting “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a pomegranate a second before awakening.” This painting depicts the reverse of the food chain with the fish eating the tiger and the tiger shooting the person. Dali with his surrealistic paintings wanted to fundamentally change how society viewed the world and alter the human view on possibility.
Dali’s Effect
Dali revolutionized the art world and brought about a whole new outlook on what is within the realm of possibility. Dali was a historical and unorthodox painter who successfully changed the view of everyone who has seen his paintings and has raised the bar on the surrealistic painting genre.
Dali even after his death 30 years ago is till changing the world today with his paintings and work that are continually shattering the confines of orthodox thinking around the globe. Dali’s experiences and inspirations from other artists, his method he devised to delve deep into the psyche of the human mind, and what he hoped people would learn from his paintings all contributed to what made Dali a revolutionary in the artistic and physiological world to this day.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Salvador Dalí.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Aug. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Salvador-Dali.
“Salvador Dalí and Surrealism.” Salvador Dali Modern Art and Surrealism | The Dalí Universe, www.thedaliuniverse.com/en/salvador-dali.
“Timeline.” Salvador Dalí Museum, thedali.org/timeline/.
“ Library.” Library, library.humboldt.edu/about/art/artists/daliPCTM.html.
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