Abraham, Pater Multarum Gentium

Salvador Dalí was one of the most well known surrealist artists of the twentieth century. Born in 1904 in Figueras, Catalonia in Spain. A great experimenter of the pictorial, theatrical and cinematographic fields. His work is easily distinguishable due to the individualistic style and provocative subject matter. Owing to the success of the surrealist movement, Dalí was able to use the Freudian theory of dream analysis in order to express the workings of the unconscious mind and associate words, images and thoughts to provoke a specific kind of emotion in the viewers. According to some critics, Dalí’s surrealist work reveals his darkest secrets and an alternative reality. Dalí was an expert draftsman and colorist which broadened his horizons as an artist. He used a variety of techniques and mediums to create his artwork. These techniques included, lithography (colour and print), sculpting, oil painting, fashion designing and writing. His most successful phase of surrealism was inspired by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in Paris. He was also inspired by an Italian painter called Giorgio de Chirico. Dalí’s work can be viewed as modern, innovative, deep, symbolic and sometimes grotesque. He used the themes of death, eroticism, childhood memories, dreams and portrayed them in a highly impressive, visually pleasing way that welcomed a great audience, making him relevant even today.