Salvador Dali and the Surrealists (eBook)

Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities

Michael Elsohn Ross (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2003 | 1. Auflage
Chicago Review Press (Verlag)
978-1-56976-400-8 (ISBN)

Infos

The bizarre and often humorous creations of Ren Magritte, Joan Mir, Salvador Dal, and other surrealists are showcased in this activity guide for young artists. Foremost among the surrealists, Salvador Dal was a painter, filmmaker, designer, performance artist, and eccentric self-promoter. His famous icons, including the melting watches, double images, and everyday objects set in odd contexts, helped to define the way people view reality and encourage children to view the world in new ways. Dal's controversial life is explored while children trace the roots of some familiar modern images. These wild and wonderful activities include making Man Ray-inspired solar prints, filming a Dali-esque dreamscape video, writing surrealist poetry, making collages, and assembling art with found objects.

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The bizarre and often humorous creations of Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, and other surrealists are showcased in this activity guide for young artists. Foremost among the surrealists, Salvador Dali was a painter, filmmaker, designer, performance artist, and eccentric self-promoter. His famous icons, including the melting watches, double images, and everyday objects set in odd contexts, helped to define the way people view reality and encourage children to view the world in new ways. Dali's controversial life is explored while children trace the roots of some familiar modern images. These wild and wonderful activities include making Man Ray-inspired solar prints, filming a Dali-esque dreamscape video, writing surrealist poetry, making collages, and assembling art with found objects.

Textauszug

King Dal

'At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon.And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.'-Dal

Pictures of tiny swans and ducks appeared on the tabletop as young Salvador scratched lines into the red paint. It didn't matter to his mother that her six-year-old son had marked the table. She was proud of his artistic skill. 'When he says he will draw a swan, he draws a swan, and when he says he'll draw a duck, it's a duck.'

Salvador Dal was born on May 11, 1904, in Figueres, Spain. This small town is at the edge of the vast Upper Empord plain in the region of Catalonia (cat-ah-LO-nee-ah). Salvador was the second son born into the Dal family. His older brother, also named Salvador, had died nine months earlier of a stomach infection when he was only 22 months old. It had been a devastating loss to his parents. They were delighted about the birth of Salvador, but worried about his health and that the same tragedy might befall him.

Dal's father, Salvador Dal Cus, made a comfortable living as a lawyer. He loved music and arguing about politics. Dal's mother, Felipa Domenech Dal, was a gentle woman who enjoyed raising canaries and doves. For Salvador's amusement, she drew funny pictures on long strips of paper and folded them, like an accordion, to make little books.

Young Salvador was afraid of his father, who was known throughout the town for his bad temper. He could, however, always go to his mother, the household cooks, or his nursemaid, Lucia, for comfort. His mother may have been particularly protective of young Salvador because of the death of his older brother. All these women served his every need. When Salvador was three years old, his little sister, Anna Mara, was born. Later, when he was seven, his grandmother, Mara Anna Ferrs, and a young aunt named Catalina came to live with his family. Among these women, Salvador was treated like a little king. No matter how spoiled he acted, they would always try to grant him his every wish. One of his uncles even sent him a king's costume, so he had the clothes to fit his role in the household.

His mother encouraged his role as a spoiled child. Each morning when he awoke she would ask, 'Sweetheart, what do you want? What do you desire?' He would often reply that he wanted to watch a film. His first films were viewed at home. His mother had a hand-operated projector, and from it he watched actors perform in their silent pictures. In 1914, when Dal was 10, the first movie theater opened in Figueres, and he would go there frequently to view new films.

From his family's apartment window, Dal could stare out at the beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and the sea. He could see all the way to the Bay of Roses many miles away and also across the Empord Plain to the Pyrenees mountains. These vistas made an impression on the young Dal. It was the beginning of his passion for vast open landscapes, and they would later appear as backgroundsin many of his paintings.

Life as a little king in a household of women was comfortable, but it soon came to an end. When Dal was seven, his father sent him away to school. Most of the children of well-to-do families were enrolled in Catholic school. Seor Dal decided, however, to send his son to a nonreligious communal school. No matter which school it was,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.9.2003
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber
• Themenwelt: Kinder- / Jugendbuch ► Sachbücher ► Kunst / Musik
• Themenwelt: Schulbuch / Wörterbuch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• ISBN-10: 1-56976-400-X / 156976400X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-56976-400-8 / 9781569764008