The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (127 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists Online
Authors: Ian Chilvers
Daguerre , Louis-Jacques-Mandé
(1789–1851).
French artist and inventor. He invented the
diorama
(1822) and the daguerreotype, the first practicable photographic process (made public in 1839).
French artist and inventor. He invented the
diorama
(1822) and the daguerreotype, the first practicable photographic process (made public in 1839).
Dahl , Johan Christian
(1788–1857).
Norwegian painter, often called the discoverer of the Norwegian landscape. From 1824 until his death he was a professor at the Academy of Dresden, where he was a friend of
Friedrich
. The landscapes of
Ruisdael
were another influence on his
Romantic
outlook. Through his deep feeling for the grandeur of the landscape of his native country he was a pioneer of the new spirit of nationalism that characterized much Norwegian art in the 19th cent.
Norwegian painter, often called the discoverer of the Norwegian landscape. From 1824 until his death he was a professor at the Academy of Dresden, where he was a friend of
Friedrich
. The landscapes of
Ruisdael
were another influence on his
Romantic
outlook. Through his deep feeling for the grandeur of the landscape of his native country he was a pioneer of the new spirit of nationalism that characterized much Norwegian art in the 19th cent.
Dahl , Michael
(1659?–1743).
Swedish portrait painter, active mainly in England. He first came to England in 1682 and settled permanently in London in 1689, becoming
Kneller's
principal rival. His work has not the brilliance and dash of Kneller's, but at his best he surpasses him in sincerity and humanity beneath a somewhat
Rococo
artificiality. There are several works by him or from his busy studio in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Swedish portrait painter, active mainly in England. He first came to England in 1682 and settled permanently in London in 1689, becoming
Kneller's
principal rival. His work has not the brilliance and dash of Kneller's, but at his best he surpasses him in sincerity and humanity beneath a somewhat
Rococo
artificiality. There are several works by him or from his busy studio in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Dalí , Salvador
(1904–89).
Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and designer. After passing through phases of
Cubism
,
Futurism
, and
Metaphysical painting
, he turned to
Surrealism
and in 1929 moved to Paris. His talent for self-publicity rapidly made him the most famous representative of the movement. Throughout his life he cultivated eccentricity and exhibitionism (one of his most famous acts was appearing in a diving suit at the opening of the London Surrealist exhibition in 1936), claiming that this was the source of his creative energy. He took over the Surrealist theory of
automatism
but transformed it into a more positive method which he named ‘critical paranoia’. According to this theory one should cultivate genuine delusion as in clinical paranoia while remaining residually aware at the back of one's mind that the control of the reason and will has been deliberately suspended. He claimed that this method should be used not only in artistic and poetical creation but also in the affairs of daily life. His paintings of the 1930s, which include several of the established classics of Surrealism, employed a meticulous academic technique that was contradicted by the unreal ‘dream’ space he depicted and by the strangely hallucinatory character of his imagery. He described such pictures as ‘hand-painted dream photographs’ and had certain favourite and recurring images, such as the human figure with half-open drawers protruding from it, burning giraffes, and watches bent and flowing as if made of melting wax (
The Persistence of Memory
, MOMA, New York, 1931). In the late 1930s Dalí made several visits to Italy and adopted a more traditional style; this together with his political views (he was a supporter of General Franco) led
Breton
to expel him from the Surrealist ranks. He moved to the USA in 1940 and remained there until 1948. During this time he devoted himself largely to self-publicity and making money (Breton coined the near anagram for his name ‘Avida Dollars’). From 1948 he lived mainly at Port Lligat in Spain, but he also spent much time in Paris and New York. Among his late paintings the best known are probably those on religious themes (
The Crucifixion of St John of the Cross
, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1951), although sexual subjects and pictures centring on his wife Gala were also continuing preoccupations. In old age he became one of the world's most famous recluses, generating rumours and occasional scandals to the end.
Apart from painting, Dalí's output included sculpture, book illustration, jewellery design, and work for the theatre. In collaboration with the director Luis Buñuel he also made the first Surrealist films—
Un chien andalou
(1929) and
L'Age d'or
(1930)—and he contributed a dream sequence to Alfred Hitchcock's
Spellbound
(1945). He also wrote a novel,
Hidden Faces
(1944), and several volumes of flamboyant autobiography. Although he is undoubtedly one of the most famous artists of the 20th cent., his status is controversial; many critics consider that he did little if anything of consequence after his classic Surrealist works of the 1930s. There is a museum devoted to Dalí's work in Figueras, his home town in Spain, and there are two in the USA—in Cleveland, Ohio, and St Petersburg, Florida.
Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and designer. After passing through phases of
Cubism
,
Futurism
, and
Metaphysical painting
, he turned to
Surrealism
and in 1929 moved to Paris. His talent for self-publicity rapidly made him the most famous representative of the movement. Throughout his life he cultivated eccentricity and exhibitionism (one of his most famous acts was appearing in a diving suit at the opening of the London Surrealist exhibition in 1936), claiming that this was the source of his creative energy. He took over the Surrealist theory of
automatism
but transformed it into a more positive method which he named ‘critical paranoia’. According to this theory one should cultivate genuine delusion as in clinical paranoia while remaining residually aware at the back of one's mind that the control of the reason and will has been deliberately suspended. He claimed that this method should be used not only in artistic and poetical creation but also in the affairs of daily life. His paintings of the 1930s, which include several of the established classics of Surrealism, employed a meticulous academic technique that was contradicted by the unreal ‘dream’ space he depicted and by the strangely hallucinatory character of his imagery. He described such pictures as ‘hand-painted dream photographs’ and had certain favourite and recurring images, such as the human figure with half-open drawers protruding from it, burning giraffes, and watches bent and flowing as if made of melting wax (
The Persistence of Memory
, MOMA, New York, 1931). In the late 1930s Dalí made several visits to Italy and adopted a more traditional style; this together with his political views (he was a supporter of General Franco) led
Breton
to expel him from the Surrealist ranks. He moved to the USA in 1940 and remained there until 1948. During this time he devoted himself largely to self-publicity and making money (Breton coined the near anagram for his name ‘Avida Dollars’). From 1948 he lived mainly at Port Lligat in Spain, but he also spent much time in Paris and New York. Among his late paintings the best known are probably those on religious themes (
The Crucifixion of St John of the Cross
, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1951), although sexual subjects and pictures centring on his wife Gala were also continuing preoccupations. In old age he became one of the world's most famous recluses, generating rumours and occasional scandals to the end.
Apart from painting, Dalí's output included sculpture, book illustration, jewellery design, and work for the theatre. In collaboration with the director Luis Buñuel he also made the first Surrealist films—
Un chien andalou
(1929) and
L'Age d'or
(1930)—and he contributed a dream sequence to Alfred Hitchcock's
Spellbound
(1945). He also wrote a novel,
Hidden Faces
(1944), and several volumes of flamboyant autobiography. Although he is undoubtedly one of the most famous artists of the 20th cent., his status is controversial; many critics consider that he did little if anything of consequence after his classic Surrealist works of the 1930s. There is a museum devoted to Dalí's work in Figueras, his home town in Spain, and there are two in the USA—in Cleveland, Ohio, and St Petersburg, Florida.
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