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Monthly artist appreciation thread?

Re weltweit's "lowbrow" observation above, a neighbour once stayed in an apartment in Figueres and found herself looking directly across the street at Dali, recognisable by his elaborate moustachios. Upon realising he was being observed he looked straight back at her and solemnly twirled one of them down, so one was up and one down.

Always a trickster, he featured in noted photographs by Philippe Halsman. Most famously here File:Salvador Dali A (Dali Atomicus) 09633u.jpg - Wikipedia
And more here Dali | Philippe Halsman
 
I hope at some point we can do Gaudi. Does Gaudi qualify as an artist as well as architect?

It is something special that people are still building one of his greatest projects, the Sagrada Familia, some 90 years after his death.
 
I've never been a huge Dali fan. Yes I admire his technical ability which is sublime but ... I always found the whole surrealist thing rather contrived. I don't find great beauty in his work:(
 
I've never been a huge Dali fan. Yes I admire his technical ability which is sublime but ... I always found the whole surrealist thing rather contrived.
As did the rest of the surrealists which is why Breton chucked him out of the group. If you want Spanish/Catalan surrealism look to Miro.
 
I've never been a huge Dali fan. Yes I admire his technical ability which is sublime but ... I always found the whole surrealist thing rather contrived. I don't find great beauty in his work:(
Have a look at his pre-surrealist work. It's very good.
 
I know very little about the lives of Dali, or Miro. Really like Miro, not so keen on Dali (although I have a great appreciation for his work - it just ain't my cup of tea).

Nice idea to bring contemporaries and influences and influenteds into the thread. Comparisons add interest.

Going to look on the net for a Dali that actually moves me :)
 
You need to start a new thread, or edit the title, Stanley Edwards
You asked the question. Everyone's up for it, so let's have a thread about it.

Suggest how we edit the title?

Personally, my own hope was simply to get a nice learning/appreciation discussion about 'great' artists in a bit more depth than just 'here is a picture'. Despite my own interest in art, I have always been very ignorant about other artists. I want to know more.
 
Suggest how we edit the title?

Personally, my own hope was simply to get a nice learning/appreciation discussion about 'great' artists in a bit more depth than just 'here is a picture'. Despite my own interest in art, I have always been very ignorant about other artists. I want to know more.
Go into thread tools at the top right of the thread and change the title from a question to a statement.
 
Be nice also to explore the lesser-known artists out there. I can buy books on Miro or Dali, but be nice to find out about art others like too, not necessarily the big hitters.
 
Be nice also to explore the lesser-known artists out there. I can buy books on Miro or Dali, but be nice to find out about art others like too, not necessarily the big hitters.

Yes. Anyone with an interest to share in the work and life of a lesser known artist would be cool.
 
The thing with Dali is that often there is many more than one picture in a painting. If, for example, you look at his painting The Hallucinogenic Toreador you can see that by using negative space he creates the illusion of the bullfighter. He also has a painting of his wife, Gala, a dying bull, and a painting of a bay formed from the dying bull's blood all in the one picture. There's almost thirty Venus de Milo in the painting too, these form the optical illusion of the toreador. The whole painting is massive. The figures in it are way beyond life size. It is all this that fascinates me about Dali. I've seen this painting many times and have yet to see all of it. The same is true of all his large works.

I'd ad a link to a picture but those I can find are totally inadequate.
 
As a kid I'd seen plenty of pictures of Dali's works, but its only seeing them for real that the scope and scale reveals their genius. As dessiato says above, some are so huge you need big rooms to hang them and binoculars to look at them.
 
As a kid I'd seen plenty of pictures of Dali's works, but its only seeing them for real that the scope and scale reveals their genius. As dessiato says above, some are so huge you need big rooms to hang them and binoculars to look at them.
The best you can hope for is a taste of what the painting is like. Some are just so big that, unless you see them in the flesh, you cannot get a full understanding of them. This is, in some ways, the failing of Dali paintings. They translate into photographs etc very badly. However, his early, pre-surrealist paintings are a different kettle of fish all together. These are all too often ignored. I do recommend them.
 
This is, in some ways, the failing of Dali paintings. They translate into photographs etc very badly.

Also makes the actual looking at them in person such a memorable experience. Would love to see more and hope to too. The early ones show where the genius started, meticulous, great brushwork and colour, highly realistic but to go on within his life to the monumental, just staggeringly clever.
 
I think these indicate the basic talent of the man
Woman at a Window (1925)
b5b2661fd4d60de323533a663177bc0d.jpg

Woman with flower head (1937)

7996f30b6c6a14056901c78204583d51.jpg

And this one of his wife, Gala, which I think was 1952.

ma_femme_nue_regardant_son_porpe_corps.jpg

Mrs D is a great fan of Dali and has a collection of art books about Dali, hence my knowledge of him.
 
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