Salvador Dalí, Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon, 1941Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, Spain
(Source)
(Source)
During my trip to the gallery last week, I said to my companion "Yeah, Dali's a bit weird." My gift with understatement made some random laugh. But really. For all his strange appearance, bizarre behaviour, and freaky subject matter, Dali was a truly amazing artist.
A lot of Dali's work was inspired by dreams and Freudian psychoanalytical theory - something that appealed to him due to his complex relationship with his parents. Named after his brother who died nine months before he was born, Dali was often compared by his parents to dead brother and as a result developed a complex that made him feel he was second best.
Soft Self Portrait is a great example of Dali's work. Dali's melting likeness is supported by a number of crutches next to a rasher of bacon. The delicate supports could slip at any moment and he who is Dali, would crumble! I'm not even sure what the bacon means other than deliciousness. But the painting only really works due to Dali's amazing draughtmanship. How many people can convincingly portray liquidity through shading and so forth without photoshop? If you get to see his works up close, take a good look at how he's painted it. The brushstrokes are so small and fine as to be invisible. That my friends, is true skill.
A lot of Dali's work was inspired by dreams and Freudian psychoanalytical theory - something that appealed to him due to his complex relationship with his parents. Named after his brother who died nine months before he was born, Dali was often compared by his parents to dead brother and as a result developed a complex that made him feel he was second best.
Soft Self Portrait is a great example of Dali's work. Dali's melting likeness is supported by a number of crutches next to a rasher of bacon. The delicate supports could slip at any moment and he who is Dali, would crumble! I'm not even sure what the bacon means other than deliciousness. But the painting only really works due to Dali's amazing draughtmanship. How many people can convincingly portray liquidity through shading and so forth without photoshop? If you get to see his works up close, take a good look at how he's painted it. The brushstrokes are so small and fine as to be invisible. That my friends, is true skill.
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