APPARITION OF FACE AND FRUIT BOWL ON A BEACH Flashcards
title
Apparition of Face and Fruit Bowl on a Beach
artist
Salvador Dalí
date
1938
medium
oil on canvas
currently located
Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut
measurement
114 x 144 cm
what is the double image
the face a fruit bowl, title calls attention to this
who was Dali
a prominent Spanish Surrealist born in Catalonia, Spain (a Catalonian beach appears in many of his works, including this one)
He 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 Old Masters
enjoyed indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention than his artwork
what is the dominanting form
Dominated by a depiction of brown-skinned pears inside a footed fruit bowl, which resembles a wine glass
An optical illusion of a human face occupies the same space as the dish; the fruits suggest wavy hair, the dish’s bowl becomes the forehead, the stem of the dish serves as the bridge of the nose, the dish’s foot doubles as the chin.
what forms the eyes of the face
The eyes of the face are formed by background objects lying on the sand at the edge of the Catalan strand
The face’s right eye is what appears to be a vase, and the face’s left eye a fallen cherub
where in spain was dali from
Dalí was from the Catalan region of Spain
catalonian beaches often appear in his work
where does the other face appear
Another face appears further in the distance, to the right of the elbow of the nude male figure; in the same area of the painting, two dogs are playing along a path in the distance
description of dogs (large dog)
One of those small dogs is itself an echo of the immense, illusionary figure of a setter-like dog which stretches from the left to the right margin of the painting
the dog’s head formed by a hill, its eye by a rock arch and its collar formed by a multi-arched bridge in the landscape beyond
The dog’s hind leg is a ‘duck or rabbit’ optical illusion, in which the animal you see depends on the way you look at it
how did dali describe his paintings
Dalí described his paintings as “hand-painted dream photographs”
how is his style attributed to old masters despite being surrealist
He used as hyper-realist style in his paintings; it is meticulous with high attention to detail
Dalí was inspired by traditional painting techniques especially the skills of early Flemish and Venetian painting; he was also influenced by the minute and meticulous style of the 19th C Academician Jean-Louis Meissonier
which old masters or techniques is dali inspired by
Dalí was inspired by traditional painting techniques especially the skills of early Flemish and Venetian painting; he was also influenced by the minute and meticulous style of the 19th C Academician Jean-Louis Meissonier
what type of brushed did dali use
*Dalí used fine sable brushes (a sable is a marten with a short tail and dark brown fur, native to Japan and Siberia and valued for its fur) and a jeweller’s glass for close work; using the tools he built up fine layers of paint gradually
-creates added realism
what is trompe l’oiel and how does dali use it
Dalí’s hyper realistic trompe l’oeuil (trick of the eye) technique was designed to make his dream world more tangibly real than observed nature.
-realistic technique combvined with surrealist style makes it seem more unsettlingly real and dream like
influence of sigmund freud
Dalí was deeply influenced by the writings of Freud; he even went to meet him in 1938 when Freud was living in exile in London
He was also influenced by André Breton’s (the founder of Surrealism) writings on the work of Freud
According to Freud, dreams are coded messages from the unconscious
Dalí and other Surrealists were interested in what could be revealed by their dreams
who was sigmund freud and what did he publish on dreams
*Sigmund Freud was an Austrian psychoanalyst writing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
*He revolutionised the way people think about the mind
*He published his groundbreaking Interpretation of Dreams in 1900
what were freuds two fundemental discoveries
Freud’s two fundamental discoveries involve:
1. The nature of unconscious mental life and the laws which govern its behaviour
2. The meaning of sexuality in human life
how did dali get involved in surrealism AND early surrealist days
HOW
Dalí went to Paris in 1929; became actively involved with the Surrealist group
EARLY SURREALIST DAYS
*1929 - 1936 he produced a series of highly detailed Dream Surrealist canvases, heavy with dream imagery, sexual innuendo and set usually within landscapes recognisable as of northern Spain (Catalonia) where he was from
why did dali break from the surrealist group
by 1938, ongoing philosophical and political differences with the Surrealists, especially with André Breton’s (the founder of Surrealism), led to Dali’s break with the group
Though no longer associated with the Surrealists, Dalí never abandoned his Surrealist style / pursuits
what is Dream (oneiric) Surrealism
Dream Surrealism is one of the two dominant stylistic strands of Surrealist practice (the other is Automatic Surrealism)
