Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Salvador Dali, one of the 20th Century Master Artists, is one of the founders of Surrealism. At that time, surrealism was a radically different approach to art, where the artist turned to his dreams and imagination, not the external world, as source material for artistic expression. Strongly influenced by the ideas of Sigmund Freud, Dali and others stunned the world with their strange and powerful symbolic images. Back in Paris after his great success in America Salvador Dali painted this picture. This is one of the most vivid works of Salvador Dali.
In Greek myth, Narcissus was a surpassingly beautiful young man who saw his reflection in a fountain and fell in love with it. According to one version, unable to fulfill his desires, he pined away; but in a more dramatic alternative he leaned forward to embrace the image, toppled into the water and drowned, Afterwards the gods transformed him into the water narcissus flower. Dali shows Narcissus sitting in a pool, gazing down, while not far away there is a decaying stone figure which corresponds closely to him but is perceived quite differently as a hand holding up a bulb or egg from which a narcissus is growing. In the background, a group of naked figures stand about attitudinizing, while a third narcissus like figure appears on the horizon.

1 comment:

Vikram said...

interesting!