Essay about Metamorphosis Of Narcissus - Salvador Dali

The painting Metamorphosis of Narcissus was created in 1937 by oil on canvas by Salvador Dali. This painting uses a lot of images to say what it means, for example, a person, a hand, water, a starving dog, a chess board, a canyon or cliff, and people. This is not to fill the paper or distract the viewer from the suggested meaning or point, but to support the idea that hope and despair are reflections of one another; on opposite sides of a coin, spinning in mid-air, waiting to land and fix or destroy everything. The first thing that one thinks upon first seeing it, from far away, is that Dali just painted the same thing twice. From afar, it appears as if he simply cut the canvas down the middle and made one side brown and the†¦show more content†¦The huge mural has become an icon of Picassos work and has been interpreted in several unique ways, many of which contradict Picassos actual intentions. Artistically, the composition is balanced and is a characteristic of Picassos work; perfectly planned and flowing. The symbols of this piece despite the misconceptions of its many critics, including those present at the Worlds Fair in the year that the painting was introduced, were clearly defined by Picasso himself. The preliminary sketches of the work began in May of 1937, and was commissioned by the official Republican government of Spain in January of the same year. It was to be displayed in the International Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 International Exhibition, or as it is more popularly known, the Worlds Fair. Picasso was given a large studio in which to conduct his artistic endeavors in partial payment for the work which was being done. Picasso went through many artistic periods throughout his career as an artist, one of which was cubism. In a few ways, Guernica, somewhat broke from the traditional cubism which he had a hand in inventing. The painting makes use of a two dimensional picture plain with all of the objects on the canvas appear flat looking as is dictated by the cubism style. The picture plain is not, however, fractured like many of the previous works which wereShow MoreRelatedEssay on Surrealism and Salvador Dali2128 Words   |  9 PagesSurrealism and Salvador Dali   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Surrealism is defined as an art style developed in the 1920s in Europe, characterized by using the subconscious as a source of creativity to liberate pictorial subjects and ideas. Surrealist paintings often depict unexpected or irrational objects in an atmosphere or fantasy , creating a dreamlike scenario ( www.progressiveart.com 2004). The word Surrealism was created in 1917 by the writer Guillaune Apollinaire. He used it to describe