Salvador Dali And Descharnes Analysis

Throughout Salvador Dali’s life he made many meaningful relationships, and one of these was that of Robert Descharnes a French photographer. Dali and Descharnes worked together on a film called, “L’aventure prodigieuse de la dentellière et du rhinocéros” that was based on Dali’s theories (Lazarus). This was only the beginning of their forty year friendship. Descharnes would help Dali by taking photographs of whatever he might paint, draw or write about. Dali would take these photographs and use them to to start a painting, and then add his own twist and style to each, more than what we could naturally see in the photo. Descharnes tells in an interview that he help to start a few of Salvador’s paintings, and even finished on for him as a collaborator

(King p.128). Dali’s work was become more popular and replicas were flooding the market. Salvador hired Descharnes to work on his behalf and clean up the art market to help preserve the legacy. When Gala, Dali’s love, died he went through a state of depression that in time would end his life. It was during this time that Descharnes helped by managing Dali’s affairs and was quoted as saying, “ he (Dali) does not want to walk, to speak, to eat, If he wants, he can draw, but he does not want” (Meisler). Even after Salvador’s death in 1989, Robert Descharnes is considered an expert on Dali’s work. He has written several books and articles regarding Dali’s life and work.
When Robert Descharnes was interviewed by Elliott King he was asked, “So Dali’s idea for his films were not the same as those for his paintings?” Descharnes he answered in a somewhat long discourse, but basically saying “No, no, he needed to make something new”(King).

He goes on to explain that while there are some similarities, for example a rhinoceros in both “The Madonna of Port Lligat” and “The Rhinoceros”, Dali didn’t make the rhinoceros the focus of each, it was just a small note. “He did not want to make a film of his paintings; painting did not dominate at all” (King p.137). When asked if I agree with this idea, that Dali’s painting and films are in no way connected other than by “small notes”, I say yes I agree. As I look through several of Dali’s art pieces I must ask myself, “what was his message he was trying to get across? It is clear to me that in some prints, he didn’t have a clear message, and was possible painting using his paranoiac-critical method. During these times he was not in his clear frame of mind to share this thought, it was a self-induced psychotic hallucination instead. Dali himself called these times “hand-painted dream photo’s (Puchko). When asked about these dream photo’s Dali was quoted as stating, “I am the first to be surprised and often terrified by the images I see appear upon my canvas. I register without choice and with all possible exactitude the dictates of my subconscious, my dreams” (Puchko). In saying this, how can anyone convey a clear thought if they are not sure of what they are thinking

themselves.
With some artist such as Pablo Picasso you can look at their catalog of work and see periods or set styles. When we look at Salvadore Dali that is not the case. To check for any sort of pattern or specific styles separated into a time frame, I reviewed several different years of his work. Salvador Dali’s artwork from 1950 alone shows vast variety of painting styles and subject matter. In just this one year Dali painted: The Exploding Head, Explosive Madonna, Butterfly Landscape, and Christ of St. John of the Cross, just to name a few. During this time he did paint three portraits of Katharina Cornell, Colonel Jack Warner, and one a Child that remains unfinished. To me by looking at just this one year we can see how he would stay on one subject matter and then quickly just to the next, or jump quickly depending on the way he was feeling or thinking. Another point I can see is that through film as well as his artwork, Dali would not only use Descharnes’ photos to gather ideas from, it is my opinion that he would also use what was going on in the world around him at the time. If we look at Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of the Civil War) from 1936 or Raphaelesque Head Exploding we can understand this point, Dali was painting based on his feelings and thought about what was going on at those times. This was also true of his films. Dali had met and was very fond of Harpo Marx, and thus collaborated on the making of Animal Crackers. Dali was flexible enough to have the freedom to express himself exactly how he wanted and was ok with walking away and leaving things unfinished when “he” wanted to. He was not pressured to continue a film, or a painting once his interested had passed. In this freedom and through his friendships Salvador Dali created many works of art that we still have today.

Eggener, Keith L. ""An Amusing Lack of Logic": Surrealism and Popular Entertainment." American Art AM ART J 7.7 (2012): 30-45. Chicago Journals. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Web.

King, Elliott H. Dalí, Surrealism and Cinema. Harpenden: Kamera, 2007. Web/Nook.

Lazarus, Marine. "Robert Descharnes - Catwalk Yourself." Catwalk Yourself. 2012. Web.

Meisler, Stanley. "The Surreal World of Salvador Dalí." Smithsonian. 1 Apr. 2005. Web.

Puchko, Kristy. "15 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Persistence Of Memory'" Mental Floss. 9 Apr. 2015. Web.

"Raphaelesque Head Exploding 1951." Art History Timelines: Art History Timelines. Web.

"Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of the Civil War) 1936." Genius. Web.