Leda Atomica :: essays research papers

Leda Atomica (24 x 18"- oil on canvas), is a painting by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) who was the top Surrealists of this time. Surrealism explored the subconscious, the dream world, and irrational elements of the psyche in the firm belief that the discoveries to be made from such exploration would be of greater fundamental importance to the human condition than any other form of social analysis. Surrealists like Salvador Dali was very fascinated by the ephemeral state of the mind between sleep and consciousness, dream and reality, sanity and insanity, as one in which the mind functioned purely, unfettered by the constraints of logic and social behavior. (#1 - Surrealism)Salvador Dali was born in May 11 of 1904 in Figures Spain, and in 1921 he entered the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid where he made friends with Federico Garcia Lorca, Luis Bunuel, and Eugenio Montes. In June of 1923 Dali was suspended from the Academy for having indicated the students to rebel against the authorities of the school but was let back in October of 1925, and a year later Dali was permanently expelled. Then in 1924 he was imprisoned in Figures and Gerona for political reasons. The influence of metaphysical paintings and contact with Miro, caused Dali to join the Surrealists in 1929. (#8 - Biographical Outline) Dali held numerous one-man shows during his career and did many art forms from paintings to sculpture and even movies. He directed and was a part of many films including the first surrealist film "Un Chiea A Dalou A Andalusian Dog", with the director Luis Bunuel. In 1945 he designed the memorable surrealistic dream sequence for Hitchcock's Spellbound, and filmed Don Juan Tenorio, in 1951. By reading psychological case histories, Dali hoped to represent neuroses in an ultra-realistic style so as to objectify the irrational with photographic accuracy. A lot of his artwork has some kind of connection to other artwork of his, like the melting clock, his symbol of death, and most of all is Dali's anamorphic self portrait mask that appears in allot of his paintings. The shape of the face, usually presented resting on its nose, is strongly reminiscent of one of the rock formation of the coastline near Dali's home. Leda Atomica is some what connected to The Madonna of Port Lligat, as if Dali is showing a symbolic story of his relationship with Gala, (Gala- is his lover/wife).