Metamorphosis Of Narcissus Essay

The weird, wacky, wonderful world of surrealist art is characterised by depictions of alternate realities, powerful juxtapositions, metamorphosis and change of reality and smooth, blended brush strokes. Metamorphosis of Narcissus was painted in 1937 by one of the most prominent Surrealist ever, Spanish artist Salvador Dali. James Gleeson was an Australian contemporary to Dali and his painting in 1939, The Attitude of Lightning Towards a Lady-Mountain, is similarly iconic of the Surrealist movement. Whilst painted only two years apart, they are vastly different. This is largely due to the subject matter, purpose of the works and the cultural differences between 1930's Spain and Australia. However there are some similarities in the use of dramatic colour, symbolism and technique. They are both inspired by surrealist values such as the subconscious, dreams, myths and legends. Both works are quintessentially surrealist in genre and philosophy.

The techniques used reveal insights into the genre and philosophy behind these paintings. Surrealism has its roots in the ideas of Dada. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2014), Dada centres on automatism where there is little or no planning of artworks - a concept which is explored in the quote from Rene Magritte. This gave way to the more contrived and conceptual manifestations witnessed in Dali and Gleeson's paintings. Dali used what he described as "hand-painted colour photography" (Mariorenzi, 2005) to depict with a hallucinatory effect the transformation of Narcissus. It is this which gives it it's Surrealist effect. Magrette's definition is very concrete, however surrealism is a loose term that encompasses many ideas. Just because it does not fulfil some criteria, it does not ...

... middle of paper ...

...ave many differences. These differences originate from the difference in purpose because of the heritage, culture and beliefs of the artists.

Both Metamorphosis of Narcissus and The Attitude of Lightning Towards a Lady-mountain are prime examples of Surrealist paintings. There are many similarities and differences that exist between the two artworks. The differences are largely due to the heritage of the artists, their beliefs and experience as well as the culture during the period. Whilst the motivations and what the works depict are different, the way they do so are quintessentially Surrealist. Both Gleeson and Dali reflected aspects of Rene Magritte's definition of surrealism in their paintings in the techniques employed and use of symbolism. As all art is, surrealism is open to interpretation and with that comes differences in the definition of "surrealist".