Dali’s Double Pictures

Artists have produced works of art that play tricks on our eyes. Dali is a good example. Here are some of his double pictures, extraordinary paintings and photos. o o o o o

The Great Paranoid (Irene Souroulidis 5e, Annita Romanou 5e) Mae West (Catherine Saranti 5b, Iris Romvou 5d) Swans Reflecting Elephants (Danae Karatzanou 5e, Emily Theodoridis 5e) Lobster Telephone (Anais Georgiadis 5c, Melina Mitsotaki 5b) Dali and the Burning Moustache (Alexis Syriopoulos 5e, Hector Papoulias 5a)

The Great Paranoid or The People That Made Faces

Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, in Catalonia, Spain in 1904. He studied painting at the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts from 1921 until 1926. When Dali settled in Paris in 1929, he became an official member of the surrealist group. In 1940 he moved to America where he produced jewelry of surrealist character. In 1936, he painted the drawing we will describe to you. The people, in the drawing, that make faces are original people that pose. This painting has dark colors and a lot of shades. In the middle of the picture, there is a face with a sad mood. At the top of the picture, there is another face that’s happier than the first one. We think that Dali shows that was a period when people were sad and made groups that showed faces. We chose this drawing because it was different from the other ones. When we look at it, we feel sad because of the dark colors. If we could go back in time and ask Dali a question, we would ask him what made him draw this picture and how he felt while he was drawing it.

Annita Romanou 5e Irene Souroulidis 5e

Mae West – The Hall

The famous painter Salvatore Dali was born in Figueras, Catalonia in Spain, in 1904. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid from 1921 to 1926. In 1929 he became a member of the Surrealist movement and in 1940 he moved to America. He died in 1989. In his lifetime he drew many paintings including the one I will describe in the next paragraphs. He painted it in 1934 and it is called Mae West. The painting shows the face of Mae West, a famous actress. When you look at it at first, you think it is just the face of a woman but, in reality, it is a room. The hair is the curtain, the eyes are paintings, the nose is the fireplace and the lips are the sofa. This room is in Dali’s museum in Figueras, in Spain. When I see this room, I think it’s a woman. It’s funny but it makes me feel sad. I don’t know why, maybe it is the colours that Dali used. I think this woman is wearing a mask because the background of the room is red and the floor is brown. Dali wants to show that you can take something and make something else out of it if you just change it a little bit. If I could talk to this woman, I would tell her to take off the mask. I don’t know what she would tell me. I wonder how she would move her lips. I like this painting because it is an optical illusion and it is funny. Catherine Saranti (5b)

The Woman/Hall

This is a work of art that Salvador Dali created in 1934. It shows the face of a famous actress called Mae West. If you look at it carefully though, you can see a room. Her eyes are paintings, her nose is a fireplace, her lips become a sofa and her hair looks like a curtain hanging over the entrance to the room. Dali used red, yellow, purple black, white and silver. He also used wood and marble. The artist makes people feel happy because he used the colour red. Red is the colour of happiness and love. Some people think that Dali was in a very cheerful mood when he made it. I chose this piece of art because I find it very nice. I like writing about topics like that. I feel very happy when I look at it. I like the bright colours of this work of art but I don’t like the dark colours. If I could tell the artist something about this work of art, I would tell him that he could use brighter colours.

Iris Romvou (5d)

Swans reflecting elephants!

The artist of the painting is Salvador Dali. He was born in Figueras, in Catalonia, Spain in 1904. He created this piece of art in 1937. In the painting, we can see magnificent swans swimming in a wonderful lake. Behind the swans we can see large trees and a beautiful bright sky. The swans and trees reflect on the lake. That creates something magical, elephants! All the painting is made with dark colours except the bright sky. With all these colours, the picture seems very vivid. We noticed that on the left side of the painting, there is a man. The man looks like he’s in a very bad mood and that makes us think that is the reason why Dali used such dark colours. We think that this optical illusion wants to show us that something small and pure can also be big and strong. We chose this piece of art because we liked it a lot. It shows us very interesting images and we are sure that it costs an arm and a leg. When we look at it, we feel very strange because someone so creative drew it. It shows so much power. There is just one thing that we don’t like in the painting. It’s the dark colours used in the paintings. If we could tell Dali something, it would be that we admire him for his great work.

Danae Karatzanou (5e) Emily Theodorides (5e)

LOBSTER TELEPHONE

The “Lobster Telephone” was painted by Dali. Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, in Catalonia, Spain in 1904. In 1928, Dali visited Paris and became a member of the Surrealists. In 1940, he moved to America. Dali can mix the real with the unreal and these ideas were basic ingredients in his work. He died in 1989. In the picture, there is a phone. This phone has a lobster instead of a receiver. Dali used his fantasy to create such a painting. He wants to show people that telephones hurt, in this case, the lobster bites. The mood of people who see this painting should be happy because the painting is a little bit funny. I chose this piece of art because it was easy to describe and it was also funny. I like it because it is an original idea. I feel scared when I look at it. I would really like to tell Dali, “Congratulations!”

Melina Mitsotaki (5b)

MY FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART

The piece of art I chose to describe is a telephone with a lobster on it! The lobster has taken the shape of the receiver. Dali painted this wonderful picture in 1936. I think Dali wanted to show us that telephones are bad for you. Dali used an old telephone and plastic lobster to make this particular piece of art. He wanted to make people feel mad or sad. I chose this piece of art because it looked interesting. Every time I look at it, it makes me feel sad but I really like the way the artist thought of making the lobster part of the phone. I didn’t really dislike anything except that the colours were very dark and that is why I feel sad when I look at it. If I saw Dali, I would tell him to lighten up his colours and put a background to his picture.

Anais Georgiadis (5c)

DALI AND THE BURNING MOUSTACHE

Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, Spain in 1904. He studied painting at the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts from 1921 to 1926. This photograph of Dali shows him with a burning sticking up moustache. He is looking at you with his strict eyes. It has dark colours. He’s frowning. He wants to scare you. I chose this photo because it’s silly. I don’t like that his moustache is huge. This is a funny photo.

CHAINSAW’S MOUSTACHE Once upon a time, Chainsaw was milking a cow. Because his moustache was burning, the cow said, “Moo moo” and kicked him and sent him to Paris. He landed and was kaput in “pits fitily”, namely in no time. That happened because the cow had a black belt in Karate.

Alexis Syriopoulos (5e) Hector Papoulias (5a)