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DALI: Sketches & Legs

March 2024 - Liam Autumn

Presenting a Composition on Dali’s works in two short disconnected parts…

DALI: Sketches & Legs!

Prologue: A Journey through the suburban art of Paris.

Sometime last year, I believe it was in the heart of August, I was fortunate enough to be transported to Paris. It really was one of the most inspirational times of my life. Being an artist and writer of fiction in many forms, I was able to see in person for the first time the art capital of the world. I decided to skip the Louvre and venture amongst the smaller museums in the area. Hugo, Blue-Picasso, Giraud, and Dali, among others. The Dali museum was up upon a distant hill overlooking the massive cityscape. Many stairs were climbed to reach it. Just past the clocktower, up the old stone road, there it was. Hidden in the corner was this museum containing many of Dali’s works in various mediums; a painting, some furniture, several sculptures, many prints, but beyond all, a plethora of sketches. Many exhibiting trace elements of colour, but most preserved in a static state of monochrome. I spent four hours in this micro-museum.

Part 1: Sketches - Untitled (1950).

Upon entering the museum, vacant of any other observers, you were to descend a staircase which led into a bright corridor, the walls lined with distant sketches in unmatted frames. What surprised me right away was the general lack of any kind of surrealism in his sketches. If you investigate through your local search engine, you will see many surreal sketches by him, but this museum lacked any of those. These sketches were rather based on realism and anatomical practice.

It appears Dali was practicing pragmatism. How dare he! Though most of the drawings lacked surrealism which is what I came there to see, I was still perplexed. I truly believe this practice may have enhanced his paintings. Good surrealism is something that challenges an observer's perspective, and by distorting such a realistic shape or image, he was able to further communicate the detailed absurdities. It is important to note that many of these sketches were drawn when Dali was younger, at the beginning of his introduction to the surrealist manifestos. It is also important to note that the majority of these drawings were erotic, clearly an early and constant theme in Dali’s work.

One of the brightest rooms was a room showcasing nine of Dali’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sketches, perhaps the most colourful part of the whole gallery. These sketches were commissioned by a Random House editor in 1969 for a limited edition reprinting. Only 2700 of these editions were released, selling for thousands on the auction market, luckily it has been reprinted.

Part 2: Legs - Animals Only.

Over the years Dali has drawn many legs, but of all of these legs, the animal ones are my favorite.

I did not get to see any of these paintings while I was in Paris, for most of them are privately owned, but these are amongst my favorite Dali paintings so I had to mention them. Beyond melting clocks and anatomized furniture, these obscurely lengthened legs are probably one of the most recognizable elements of Dali’s work. The mass of such a creature as an elephant is emphasized by a large obelisk floating above their back, all held up by skinny, long, arachnid -like multi-jointed legs. It is a sight of pure surrealism. It is obscure to me that these paintings are so small, averaging under two-feet in length, despite the immense detail. These are alluring pieces by a surrealist master.

-Featuring Artworks by Salvador Dali-

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