Salvador Dali / Surrealism

The above image is probably the most well known image of Dali, and it clearly shows his quirky nature and crazy moustache!

Dali created some very strange paintings in his time, which were created from his dreams, and are therefore very surreal.

The Persistence of Memory

This is probably one of the most famous paintings by Dali. His paintings are very random and make little sense, as these are just the inner workings of his mind trying to make sense of his subconscious feelings and memories.

Swans Reflecting Elephants

"Dali was a skilled draftsman best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best know work, The Persistance of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dali's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

"He is now known as the greatest surrealists of our time, best known for his ability to translate dreams into artwork, "hand painted dream photographs" he called them. Fascinated with the images he got as he was drifting off to sleep, Dali would place a tin plate on the floor and sit beside it in a chair, holding a spoon above the plate. He would relax and fall asleep, and the moment when he did, the spoon would fall and clash with the plate, waking him up with the dream images fresh in his mind." http://artanddesigninspiration.com/salvador-dali-eccentric-genus/

Sleep

The above painting is also very strange but can be interpreted more easily because it shows the lack of stability that dreams have. As you can see, the face is held up by thin sticks, that could easily fall over and therefore knock the face over too. This is perhaps because dreams are very unstable; as you begin to wake up from a dream, it will start to fall apart.

The Elephants

"It is evident in his earliest of works that Dali was profoundly influenced by realism; he sought to capture the world as it was and to perfect the forms of the world. Soon though his art work would take a turn and he would be influenced by the new art movements emerging, Dadaism and Cubism. It wasn't till his twenties that Dali fell under the spell of Surrealism and his life changed forever."

http://www.salvadordali.com/art-2/

The Burning Giraffe