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The Surrealist Manifesto: The Great Masturbator Is Considered His First Great Masterpiece

Salvador Dali was an eccentric Spanish surrealist artist known for his distinctive mustache and imaginative dream-like paintings. Early in his career, he was heavily influenced by surrealist writer Andre Breton and created one of his first surrealist works called Oiseau at age 24. He further established himself with the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou and embarked on a creative period that included iconic paintings like The Persistence of Memory and The Great Masturbator. Throughout his career, Dali continued pushing boundaries with thought-provoking and bizarre works that demonstrated his wild imagination.

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103 views

The Surrealist Manifesto: The Great Masturbator Is Considered His First Great Masterpiece

Salvador Dali was an eccentric Spanish surrealist artist known for his distinctive mustache and imaginative dream-like paintings. Early in his career, he was heavily influenced by surrealist writer Andre Breton and created one of his first surrealist works called Oiseau at age 24. He further established himself with the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou and embarked on a creative period that included iconic paintings like The Persistence of Memory and The Great Masturbator. Throughout his career, Dali continued pushing boundaries with thought-provoking and bizarre works that demonstrated his wild imagination.

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1SalvadorDaliwasveryeccentric,whenpeoplehearthenameDalimanythinkofhis

mustache.
2Dali'sjourneytosuccessbeganearlyinlife.Hepaintedthisimage,oneofhisearliest
explorationsofSurrealism,whenhewasjust24.Hewasheavilyinfluencedbythewritingsof
AndreBreton,theleaderoftheSurrealistmovementwhohadwrittenTheSurrealistManifesto
fouryearsearlier.
Surrealismencouragedartiststotapintotheunconsciousworldofdreamsanddesiresand
accessnewanduncomfortabletruthsaboutourselves.Thisdeceptivelysimpleand
mesmerisinglyoddimageiscalledOiseau(uhweyzoo)whichisthefrenchwordforbird.
3DaliestablishedhispositionasagroundbreakingSurrealistwiththis16minuteblackand
whitefilmmadewithhisfriendLuisBunuel.UnChienAndalouisarguablythefirstSurrealist
film.
Ithasnologicalnarrative.Instead,itpresentsaseriesofdisturbingimageswhichtapintoour
innermostfears.Inmanywaysitcanbeseenasaforerunnertothestrange,dreamlike
cinematicstyleofmanyoftoday'sleadingfilmmakers.
4AtthesametimeashewasworkingonUnChienAndalou,Daliembarkeduponagolden
periodofcreativitythatcementedhisreputationasaleadingavantgardepainter.
TheGreatMasturbatorisconsideredhisfirstgreatmasterpiece
5ThePersistenceofMemory(1931)wasatinypainting.ItisoneofDali'smosticonicworks.
Therocksandlandscapeofhishomeformthebackdropforadreamlikesceneapparently
inspiredbythesightofmeltingCamembertcheese.
Thestartlingimageryismeticulouslydetailedandhasanalmostphotographicquality,withthe
beautifullyrenderedwatchessymbolizingthepassingoftimeandmortality.
6GiraffeonFire(1936)ManypeoplebelievethatDaliproducedhisbestworkduringthe
Thirties.AfterThePersistenceofMemory,hewentontocreateaseriesofextraordinary
paintingsthatdemonstratetheextentofhisimagination.
InGiraffeonFire,thehuge,loomingfiguresoftwowomendominateastarkbluelandscape,
thehalfopeneddrawersrunningdowntheirbodiesmayrepresentthemurkierpartsofthe
mind.
7LobsterTelephone(1936)DuringtheThirties,DalicreatedanumberofSurrealobjectsthat
wouldchangethenatureofproductdesign.ThemostfamousoftheseistheLobster
Telephone.ItwasmadeforDali'spatronEdwardJames,themostimportantBritishcollector
ofSurrealistartatthetime.
8ChristofStJohnontheCross(1951)AftertheSecondWorldWar,hebecamefascinated
withscienceandreligion.Thispaintingisoneofhisgreatestworksfromthisperiod.
9InDecember14,1936DaliisfeaturedonthecoverofTimeMagazine.Theverysameday
itsrealeased,atanInternationalSurrealistexhibitioninLondon,Daligivesaspeechina
divingsuit.
10SalvadorDalismuseum,theTeatreMuseuDali,inFigueres,Spain,opensonSeptember
28.
11Dalirepeatedhisthemeofthemeltingwatchesmanytimes,thisoneiscalledThe
DisintegrationofthePersistenceofMemory,paintedin1954
12Toend,thisisStillLifeMovingFast(1956)

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