Artsy Fartsy Wednesday ~ Hello Dalí

I studied Salvador Dalí briefly while taking an art history course at Penn College in the 2005 Spring semester. I later picked up a book about Dalí, you know, one of those oversized art books they sell in the bookstores. I studied Dalí over the summer and then went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with some friends to see a Dalí exhibit. Most of the artwork on display had not been shown in the U.S. for over 20 years so it was a real treat to be able to see many of the paintings up close that I had only seen in books before. There was an audio tour of the exhibit so everyone was wearing headphones. Since I had studied Dalí, I knew what to expect when the narrator talked about each painting. Other people did not expect to hear what they were about to hear and many people had funny and sometimes disturbed looks on their faces as they learned about Dalí. Let's just say Dalí was an interesting person. I was disappointed that his most well known piece "Persistence of Memory" was not on display there. That painting in particular has resided at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York city since 1934. I'm not too far from New York City, so I'll have to make a trip there to see it someday.

I want to make Artsy Farsy Wednesdays more about showing art rather than talking so much about it. So here are some of my favorite works by Salvador Dalí.

Persistence of Memory, 1931
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Dalí's most notable work

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Figure at a Window, 1925
Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid

One of Dalí's earlier paintings before he got into surrealism. That is the artist's sister in the painting.

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The Ram (The Spectral Cow), 1928
The Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL

I've never seen this one until today, interesting.

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The Architectural Angelus of Millet, 1933
Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid


This painting is based on Jean-Francois Millet's painting "The Angelus"

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The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table, 1934
On loan to the Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL


I just really like the title of this one.

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Skull with Its Lyric Appendage Leaning on a Night Table which Should Have the Exact Temperature of a Cardinal's Nest, 1934
On loan to the Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL


Wow, that's an even better title!

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Swans Reflecting Elephants, 1937
Private Collection


This is one of my personal favorites. Dalí did some paintings which include double images. It's obvious in this one because of the title.

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Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon, 1941
Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueras


Not so sure if it exactly captures the likeness of Dalí, but it's got that signature Dalí mustache.

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The Elephants, 1948
Private Collection


I believe this painting was the inspiration for a mewithoutYou t-shirt design. Eh, maybe, maybe not.

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That's enough for today. Click here to see more than 1,000 of Dali's paintings as well as drawings, watercolors, and objects.