I was watching the film Little Ashes starring Robert Pattinson as Spanish Surrealist Painter Salvador Dali. The Spawn saw me watching and became interested in the artist. Unfortunately, I couldn’t let him watch the entire movie with me because it contains nudity, sexual content and other themes that are not appropriate for a 6 year old (It is rated R in the US). But thanks to the internet, especially Wikipedia, I was able to quickly summarize some key points about Salvador Dali and his life and works.
Salvador Dali At a Glance:
Full name: Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech
Born: 11 May 1904
Died: 23 January 1989
Nationality: Spanish
Art Movement: Surrealism
Example of his best-known work: The Persistence of Memory (1931)
© 2007 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Read more about Dali on Wikipedia
When the Spawn asked me to explain what exactly Surrealism is, I couldn’t exactly tell him the Dictionary definition (“A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter.” -thefreedictionary.com) so I simplified it by saying Surrealism is art that makes real things look unreal and extraordinary – like a dream world.
He seemed to like that definition and in the middle of the movie, the character of Dali himself says this, which I think also sums up the Surrealist movement quite nicely:
“Everything which we think is real… we have to smash it… go beyond…”
As a habit I picked up from a school where I used to teach, we ended our impromptu art history class with a drawing lesson on how to make a caricature of the artist we just learned about. With just a few simple lines and shapes, even young children can draw the most recognizable personalities.
A free downloadable PDF of this Step-by-Step Drawing guide is available on my DocStoc page. The file is free to print and share for non-commercial use as long as it remains intact with my URL information displayed at the bottom of the page.
This is what the Spawn came up with, following my step-by-step instructions:
Salvador Dali by *the Spawn* 6 years old, 20 November 2009
In his own attempt to make his drawing “surreal,” the Spawn decided to hide Salvador Dali’s name in his hair. I thought it was a cute interpretation of the art movement.
I will likely follow up this “class” by showing him more examples of Dali’s work both art and in film. Dali even collaborated with Disney on a short animated film entitled Destino which I’m hoping will be available to purchase soon.
In the meantime, watch Salvador Dali’s bio-pic Little Ashes, available on DVD from Amazon.com
Related Products from Amazon.com:
