Salvador Dalí’s The Great Masturbator: A Surrealist Analysis

Salvador Dalí’s *The Great Masturbator* (1929)

Artist: Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

Timeline: 1929

Style: Surrealism

Technique: Oil on canvas

Size: 1.1 m x 1.5 m

Location: Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

Composition

The main feature of the painting is a *stylized self-portrait* of the artist. Despite the stylization, the most characteristic features of Dalí’s face are recognizable: a large nose, a long face, and a yellow, wax-like complexion. This self-portrait appears repeatedly in his work. Adhered to the

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Caravaggio’s Early Works: Paintings from 1594-1596

The Fortune Teller

(1594-1595)

The version in the Louvre, created after the one in the Capitoline Museum, is considered to be a companion piece to The Cardsharps. The gypsy is richly dressed. The first version has a more mischievous expression, while the second portrays a more beautiful subject. Both figures smile gently, as if accepting their fate. The lighting is more carefully rendered than in the Louvre version, with the focus consistently on the figures. We can see how this gentleman is richly

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Dionysian vs. Apollonian: Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Life

The Dionysian Principle

The Dionysian is a metaphor that Nietzsche uses to describe a way to conceive of life without reducing it to concepts and definitions. He contrasts the Dionysian to the Apollonian. Nietzsche draws this metaphor from ancient Greek civilization, specifically the theatrical spectacle that was staged in Athens known as Attic tragedy. In tragedy, Nietzsche noticed a constant opposition between two tendencies:

  • The Apollonian: Represented by the hieratic nature of the sculptures that
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Romanesque Sculpture: Characteristics, Themes, and Iconography

Romanesque Sculpture: Main Features

Romanesque sculpture was influenced by pre-Romanesque tests and sculptures from the East. During the Romanesque period, large-scale sculpture was not common, as the ancient sculptural tradition had been largely forgotten. Artists favored smaller dimensions, such as those found in ivory works.

Romanesque sculptors were more interested in the intellectual aspect and the message of their work than in naturalism. Figures are typically simple, with very flat relief,

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Impressionism and the Palace of Versailles: Art and History

Impressionism: A 19th Century Artistic Revolution

In the 19th century, there was a radical change in art. It went from the artist who followed the rules (the Academy) to the one that broke them. The artists who transformed art were the rejected ones of the official Salons.

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)

His paintings were rejected from the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1855. He decided to open a “Pavillon du Realisme” to show his works. His style represents reality but without the romantic emotion

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Masterpieces of Art History: From Realism to Feminist Art

Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849, Realism

The Stone Breakers highlights the mindless, repetitive nature of physical labor without any idealization.

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, Realism

What beliefs of this artist are reflected in the painting? A Black man with a banjo was used as a stereotype in American culture.

Hokusai, Great Wave of Kanagawa, from 36 Views of Mount Fuji, Japan

Woodcut printing; Ukiyo-e. What style of painting influenced this? Edo Period of Japanese prints.

Claude

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