Robert Descharnes (1926–2014)

"Dali" by Taschen is a visually stunning exploration of the life and work of one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century, Salvador Dali. It’s a book for superfans. In addition to the artwork the book provides a comprehensive overview of Dali's career, from his early years as a Surrealist provocateur to his later, more introspective works. It features full-color reproductions of Dali's surreal and often bizarre world. Packed with insightful commentary and analysis by art experts, they shed light on Dali's influences, techniques, and the deeper meaning behind his work. They also dive into Dali's personal life, including his eccentricities, controversies, and the impact of historical events on his art. This book is a combination of beautiful imagery and informative text which makes it a valuable addition to any art lover's library.… (more)

Sometimes I find it funny that art should be arranged into movements, since it's a form that should fundamentally defy classification, with any attempt at doing so seeming rather pretentious; but our natural tendency toward order and categorization prevents us from accepting this. I suppose, however, that the term surrealism gives some voice to the creativity and strangeness of Dali's artistic abilities (though in a great illustration of the arbitrary nature of any art movement, he was himself "expelled" from the Surrealists).

I'm no art critic nor do I know how to write about art, so the best I can give here is my point of view. Dali's paintings by their very provocativeness and defiance of (and later homage to) natural laws of physics, as well as modern aesthetics, are endlessly fascinating to unpack and analyze. He both acknowledges the standards that people bring to art appraisal, while making the point that such standards are subjective and perhaps should not exist in the first place; he has a similar view on whether art should or should not "make sense." Had he allowed himself to be locked down by such restrictions, which always fluctuate based on the time period, the world would have been deprived of so much fearless, scandalous creative power. So, even though I don't necessarily like the subject matter of some of his works, I can respect the tenacity, openness and multifaceted nature of the mind behind their creation. A point of view that I wish the so-called Surrealists of his time could have shared - you can't exactly call yourself a "revolutionary" movement if you're easily offended by those who dare to break the mold.

A few other unexpected discoveries I made from this book:

(1) His mastery of the trompe l'oeil technique is absurdly good. My only prior memory of his art being The Persistence of Memory, I was stunned by how well he could create optical illusions in his paintings, with the seemingly effortless placement of a few properly shaped objects, or through the combination of a multitude of tiny components like in Gala Placidia. It's amazing to consider how he came up with such a concept, let alone how he executed it so flawlessly.

(2) Dali is at least as good of a writer as he is a painter, if not better. As writing is also a form of art, it must have been another great avenue for him to express his views on life, religion/mysticism, etc. Although not everything he's written has been autobiographical, the few excerpts I read from The Secret Life of Salvador Dali and Diary of a Genius ranged from sharp-witted to poetic to philosophical, and sometimes all three, which again illustrates the brilliance of the mind behind the art.

(3) Unlike other artists, Dali has provided background/interpretation on some of his works, which on one level gives us an easy understanding of his more confusing (and/or scandalous) paintings, but on the other makes me wonder how he ever managed to perceive and incorporate so much symbolism into his art. The soft watches in The Persistence of Memory came from an image of melting Camembert and how people are slaves to their rigid timepieces. He depicts drawers and cupboards opening out of bodies as a representation of Freud's psychoanalytic theories. Eggs are a common motif, a symbol of a "pre-natal" world; and his wife Gala is a recurring image in his work, taking on a religious significance in some instances. Later, discoveries on the nature of the atom heavily influence his subject matter as well. In short, it's amazing to me how one man could so artistically combine the inner and outer universe of his existence.

Thanks to this book, I can now extend my list of Dali favorites to include the following paintings:
- The Persistence of Memory
- The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory
- Eggs on the Plate (without the Plate)
- Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's "Angelus"
- A Couple with their Heads Full of Clouds
- Metamorphosis of Narcissus
- "Geopoliticus" Child Watching the Birth of the New Man
- Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon
- Gala Placidia
- Nuclear Cross
- Exploding Raphaelesque Head

And now I'm on my way to watch "An Andalusian Dog", which I'm sure will weird me out given what I've heard of it, but sometimes it takes a little weird to make you appreciate your normal everyday existence - and to give a little shock to your creativity.… (more)