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One of the featured artists at the Whitney Point Fine Art Museum, Salvador Dali, has been one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Dali entered this world in a very surreal matter, having his brother (Salvador) die, just nine months before his own birth. Born May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Spain, Dali led a life full of art and adventure, as well as believing that he was the reincarnation of his late brother. He entered the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid before having his first show in Barcelona at the ripe age of 21. Before becoming the leader of the surrealist movement, he idolized Andre Breton who was big during the age of Dada. After WWII he came to the United States for eight years where he exhibited his work at the MOMA in New York. He returned to Europe to further his career as an artist and moved away from surrealism. Dali died on January 23, 1989.
Salvador Dali was a surrealist painter, but also dipped into the arts of sculpture, photography, multimedia, and even film. It has been said that he referred to his paintings as "hand painted dream photographs." In his career he produced over 1500 paintings in all different areas of art. From a very young age, he was taught the ways of Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Velasquez which ultimately lead to the refinement of his craft. 1929 marked the start of his career in surrealism which he had become so famous for. This art was inspired by dreams and dream like states of the subconscious. Dali was also inspired by the theories of Sigmund Freud regarding psychoanalysis.
One of his most famous pieces was the "Persistance of Memory" featuring the recognizable melting clocks. This piece featured familiar items such as the ants, and clocks, "placed in an unfamiliar context or rendered in an unfamiliar way."(MoMA) Another quote that explains where this remarkable piece came from is that, "Apparently Dali wakes from his slumber one day in his studio and sees some melting cheese and connects the transformation of the cheese with the passing of time and like that, voila, the iconic melting clocks."(Salvador Dali Web)
Another famous work by Salvador Dali was "Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man." This was created in 1943 with oil paints on canvas. For this piece, he looked to the renaissance period for inspiration. "Parachute, paranaissance, protection, cupola, placenta, Catholicism, egg, earthly distortion, biological ellipse."(the Dali) These are just a few of the words that Dali himself, wrote down while preparing for this project. Supposedly, this piece is all about the birth of the new world. The scared child located in the bottom right corner represents the "new age" that will come from this transformation.
135 Hausman Drive
Whitney Point, New York 13862
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Designed by Hayley Brennan
Created October 7, 2014
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