Salvador Dali: paintings with names and descriptions

Salvador Dali without exaggeration can be called the most famous surrealist of the XX century, because his name is familiar even to those who are completely far from painting. Some people consider him to be the greatest genius, others - a madman. But the first and the second unconditionally recognize the unique talent of the artist. His paintings represent an irrational combination of real objects, deformed in a paradoxical way. Dali was a hero of his time: the master's work was discussed both in the highest circles of society, and in the proletarian milieu. He became the real embodiment of surrealism with freedom of spirit inherent in this trend of art, contradictory and shocking. Today, anyone who wants to see the masterpieces authored by Salvador Dali. Pictures, photos of which can be seen in this article, are able to impress every surrealist fan.

The role of Gala in the work of Dali

A huge creative legacy left behind him, Salvador Dali. Paintings with names that cause mixed feelings among many people are so attractive today to art lovers that deserve detailed consideration and description. The inspirer, model, support and main fan of the artist was his wife Gala (emigrant from Russia Elena Dyakonova). All of his most famous canvases were written during his life together with this woman.

The hidden meaning of "Memory permanence"

Considering the famous paintings of Salvador Dali, it is worth starting with the most recognizable of his work - "The permanence of memory" (sometimes called "Time"). The canvas was created in 1931. Inspired by the artist to write a masterpiece of his wife Gala. According to Dali himself, the idea of the picture arose at the sight of camembert cheese melting under the sunlight . What did the master want to say with a soft clock on the canvas against the backdrop of the landscape?

Three soft dials adorning the foreground of the picture are identified with subjective time, which freely flows and unevenly fills all free space. The number of hours is also symbolic, because the number 3 on this canvas shows the past, the present and the future. The soft state of objects indicates the relationship between space and time, which for the artist has always been obvious. There are also solid watches on the picture, represented by a clock face down. They symbolize the objective time, the course of which goes against humanity.

His self-portrait was also depicted on this canvas by Salvador Dali. The painting "Time" contains in the foreground an incomprehensible growing object, framed by eyelashes. It was in this image that the author drew himself asleep. In a dream, a person frees up his thoughts, which he carefully conceals from others in a waking state. All that can be seen in the picture is the dream of Dali - the result of the triumph of the unconscious and the death of reality.

Ants crawling on the body of solid watches symbolize decay, decay. In the picture, insects line up in the form of a dial with arrows and show that objective time destroys itself. The fly, sitting on a soft watch, was a symbol of inspiration for the painter. Ancient Greek philosophers spent a lot of time surrounded by these "Mediterranean fairies" (that's what Dali called flies). The mirror seen in the picture on the left is evidence of the impermanence of time, it reflects both objective and subjective worlds. Egg in the background symbolizes life, dry olive - forgotten ancient wisdom, and the water surface - eternity.

"Giraffe in Fire": interpretation of images

Studying the paintings of Salvador Dali with a description, you can go deeper into the artist's work, better understand the subtext of his paintings. In 1937, from the brush painter came out the work "Giraffe on fire." This was a difficult period for Spain, as a little earlier it started a civil war. In addition, Europe was on the threshold of World War II, and Salvador Dali, like many progressive people of that time, felt its approach. Despite the fact that the master claimed that his "Giraffe is on fire" has nothing to do with political events that shake the continent, the picture is thoroughly impregnated with horror and anxiety.

In the foreground, Dali painted a woman standing in a desperate pose. Her hands and face are bloodied, the impression is created that skin is ripped from them. A woman looks helpless, she can not resist the impending danger. Behind her is a lady with a piece of meat in her hands (it is a symbol of self-destruction and death). Both figures stand on the ground thanks to thin props. Their Dali often portrayed in his works to emphasize the weakness of man. Giraffe, in whose honor the painting is named, is drawn in the background. He is much smaller than women, the upper part of his body is engulfed in fire. Despite its small size, he is the protagonist of the canvas, embodying a monster, carrying an apocalypse.

Analysis of the "Premonitions of the Civil War"

Not only in this work expressed his foreboding of the war, Salvador Dali. Pictures with names that indicate its approach, appeared repeatedly from the artist. A year before the "Giraffe" the artist wrote "Soft construction with boiled beans" (otherwise it is called "The Premonition of the Civil War"). The structure of parts of the human body, depicted in the center of the canvas, resembles the contours of Spain on the map. The design from above is too bulky, it hangs over the ground and can collapse at any moment. Below the structure scattered beans, which look completely inappropriate here, which only emphasizes the absurdity of political events taking place in Spain in the second half of the 30s.

Description of "Faces of War"

"The Face of War" is another work left by the surrealist to his fans. The picture dates back to 1940 - the time when Europe was engulfed in hostilities. On the canvas is depicted a human head with a face frozen in agony. It is surrounded by snakes from all sides, instead of eyes and mouth, it has countless skulls. It seems that the head is literally stuffed with death. The picture symbolizes concentration camps, which took life from millions of people.

Interpretation of "Dream"

"Dream" is a picture of Salvador Dali created by him in 1937. It shows a huge sleeping head, holding on eleven thin props (exactly the same as the women on the canvas "Giraffe in the Fire"). Crutches are everywhere, they support the eyes, forehead, nose, lips. The human body is missing, but there is an unnaturally stretched thin neck. The head represents a dream, and the crutches indicate support. It is only every part of the face to find its support, as a person will collapse into the world of dreams. Support is needed not only for people. If you look carefully, you can see a small dog in the left corner of the canvas, whose torso also rests on a crutch. You can consider the supports as threads, which allow the head to freely float during sleep, but do not let it completely break away from the ground. The blue background of the canvas further emphasizes the detachment of what is happening on it from the rational world. The artist was sure that this is what a dream looks like. The picture of Salvador Dali entered the cycle of his works "Paranoia and War".

Images of Gala

His favorite wife, too, drew Salvador Dali. Pictures with the names "Anzhelyus Gala", "The Madonna of Port Ligat" and many others directly or indirectly indicate the presence of Dyakonova in the plots of works of genius. For example, in Galatea with Spheres (1952), he portrayed his life companion in the form of a divine woman, whose face shines through a large number of balls. The wife of a genius hovers above the real world in the upper etheric layers. His muse became the main heroine of such paintings as "Galarina", where she is depicted with a bare left breast, "Atomic Leda", in which Daly presented the naked wife in the form of the ruler of Sparta. Almost all the female images present on canvases were inspired by his faithful wife.

Impression of the painter's works

Photos depicting the paintings of Salvador Dali, high resolution allows you to explore his work to the smallest detail. The artist lived a long life and left behind several hundred works. Each of them is a unique and incomparable inner world, portrayed by a genius named Salvador Dali. Pictures with the names, known to everyone since childhood, can inspire, cause delight, perplexity or even disgust, but no one will remain indifferent after seeing them.