Speaking on a technical level, Dali dabbled in various...
Art Critique Debate! (Not Drawing Competition)
I too, am starting of with a rather popular work. something pretty much everyone knows, even when you couldn't quite grab the title. I submit Salvador Dali's "The disintegration of the persistence of memory". This is the surrealist painting we all know and love, there are few who wouldn't be able to envision the piece in their head just by stating 'melting watches'. The light bulb goes off, and the nod of recognition soon follows. But, is that the picture you had in your head? Please, read on. Speaking on a technical level, Dali dabbled in various expressions from pointillism, to holograms, with his mastery of stylizing the real growing each time the muse descended. While you might not see individual brush strokes, you will see a host more. Subtle repetitions that seem slightly off, disjointed and impossible perspectives; this piece literally forces you to try and reconcile what you are looking at to what you think you have looked at. It draws you in, which as an artistic piece, should do. Dali was tortured, to say the least. From being pelted by grasshoppers in his youth, to being haunted by the death of a brother, his early challenges are what lead to some of the most fascinating works modern Speaking on a technical level, Dali dabbled in various expressions from pointillism, to holograms, with his mastery of stylizing the real growing each time the muse descended. While you might not see individual brush strokes, you will see a host more. Subtle repetitions that seem slightly off, disjointed and impossible perspectives; this piece literally forces you to try and reconcile what you are looking at to what you think you have looked at. It draws you in, which as an artistic piece, should do. Dali was tortured, to say the least. From being pelted by grasshoppers in his youth, to being haunted by the death of a brother, his early challenges are what lead to some of the most fascinating works modern art history has seen. Dali and surrealism go hand in hand, but its the name, and the function of the piece that I want to specifically call attention to "The disintegration ..." inferring that what you see are the leftovers from something else, which I feel is what makes this a superior piece. Personally speaking, when I realized the title (as a younger lad), its what drew me into art. Dali's stated symbolism (and some of the Freudian) seem at odds with each other in the way of an explanation. The disintegration of the persistence of memory was supposed to be about a recognition of science (with the Persistence of Memory becoming in a way obsolete), and marked the last of his surreal-at-the-core works, but like Van Gogh's affliction causing him to see yellow darn near everywhere, there was probably something a bit deeper at play. With the first inklings of his wife drifting off into senility, perhaps the surreal hit a bit to close to home, and something like this became the result. Or, dude was impotent. Melting things and soft things and nearly erect but wave semi flaccid things are a common theme in his work, featured here: http://en.wikipedia.org... Link if I screwed up the placement.