Works on Paper by Salvador Dali
Decalcomania
Salvador Dali
The Surrealists developed a variety of games and techniques involving chance and automatic effects to develop surprising “unconscious” compositions. Decalcomania is an example of such techniques. The surrealist Oscar Dominquez (1906-1957) introduced the technique to the surrealists. Watercolor paints are pressed between two sheets of paper; when they are pulled apart, the resulting pattern is developed into an image.
This haunting composition consists of a white skeletal figure, whose head is composed of red dots similar to a flower bouquet and is positioned beneath a representation of an archway. A dramatic, decorative gold border, containing tiny skulls surround the figure on three sides.
Artists will often attempt to create works of art with non-traditional methods or materials, and Dalí was fond of experimenting with how media (ink, paint, etc.) can be applied to a support (paper, canvas, etc.). ‘Decalcomania’ is the process of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared or manipulated paper onto a secondary support material. Evoking his oil painting titled Three Young Surrealist Women Holding in Their Arms the Skins of an Orchestra (1936, oil on canvas, Dalí Museum collection) this gouache also features a hand-painted mat featuring winged skulls as an additional decorative motif.
Salvador Dali ©
Resource:
https://archive.thedali.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=jump;dtype=d;startat=33
