Essential Dali

by Kirsten Bradbury

Kristen Bradbury Dempsey Parr essential, dali 256 1999-08 English 1840845090 9781840845099 Hardcover (First Edition) List Unknown

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Reference

Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Steven Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trap that I think most authors of art books can fall into is focusing too much on the life of an artist, at the expense of analyzing the artworks themselves. This is something that this book thankfully avoids because of its simple, but effective, structure. The introduction discusses Dalí’s life, his persona, and his lifetime devotion to art. Afterwards, the entire rest of the book is solely dedicated to the essential paintings, sculptures, and drawings that Dalí created throughout his career. As someone who is still relatively new to the world of paintings, Kirsten Bradbury’s book made me learn how to read paintings differently. Her analyses of Dalí’s paintings, especially his self portraits and “The Persistence of Memory,” are very well written. You can clearly see how passionate she is about Dalí’s art, as well as art in general. In her analysis of certain paintings, she includes just enough context about Dalí’s life at the time without sacrificing her in-depth explanations about such pieces. This is a page turner! To the newer fans of Dalí and Surrealism, start here!

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely appreciate Dali, but sometimes I can’t exactly enjoy his artwork. He is probably one of the 20th-century’s most complicated and convoluted artists, so I don’t feel too bad saying that overall. At least with this book I was able to see more of a range of his artwork, and find some that I actually did enjoy - a definite trend that seems to be emerging with this series of “Essential” art books! Each painting is paired with a short writeup summarizing its major themes and connections to Dali’s larger oeuvre, providing a simple introduction to what are incredibly complex works in many cases. I doubt I will ever be a fan of Dali’s religious and truly surrealist works, since I can’t connect to Christian themes and his dreamscapes are a little too macabré for my tastes, but his technique is undoubtedly of the highest quality. The realism, composition, and thought behind each of these paintings gives them merit besides that of the apparent marketing and fame machine that Dali cultivated. A few of the standout pieces collected in this book for me were those where Dali actually takes it down a notch from his usual maximal output: the simplicity of composition in “Pierrot Playing the Guitar,” the floral textures in “Lago Di Garda,” and the linework in “The Judges” all create lovely and powerful imagery for the mind. I’ll definitely be looking out for some more books on Dali, since it seems there is more of him for me to enjoy than I previously thought.

[Justin Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of pictures and descriptions. Reading _Essential Cali_ gave me a better understanding of not only Dali, but art in general.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awesome Pictures not a whole lot of information.

[Bill38silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know very little about art but enjoyed reading this glossy book in one sitting. After a short introduction painting a picture of the life of Dali and his influences, the main part of this book consists of 150 large illustrations of individual works with notes on each to aid an understanding of some of his mind-boggling visual pieces. Where a description of a particular art work mentions another Dali picture, a thumbnail picture is inserted as a useful reminder.

I like art that is instantly appealing or intriguing to the eye and not hard work to interpret. Hence, to me, Dali's work as portrayed in this book is variable in its attraction. Some pieces are filled with stunning imagery, others too obscure. After educating myself with this "essential" book I can now view Dali's work with some knowledge of what certain motifs mean, for example, soft(slithering) watch faces, ants, crutches, closed eyes, skulls, chest of drawers, man on horse etc.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer for anyone wanting to understand the works of Dali

[Melissa Dally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the works selected and the details the author points out. I felt that the interpretations were a little much and possibly not what he'd intended, but I cannot be sure.

[Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

They save some of the best for last.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

It takes a bottom-up approach to his art, a chronological examination of a set of significant works. This, unfortunately, does little to aid understanding of major themes and imagery, which would have benefited by an image-by-image treatment. Part of the problem is that this only details his concrete legacy instead of the brand name and cult of personality he built for himself. The short biography doesn't do justice to him as a cultural influence.

I walked into this book wanting to crack the nut of his art, and left it as mystified as ever.

[Aryn Jurgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, clear photos and descriptions of Dali's work. In the beginning they give a brief overview of his life, his greatest works and people he created art with. I like how each piece exposed in large had a "recommendation" below it of a thumbnail version of another piece by him. I enjoyed this book, it is a great view for anyone who is a fan of Dali or looking to learn more about his art, why he created it and how he did it.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great interpretations of the Dali paintings I love!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of his works but not as informative as Descharnes studies

[Chris Allan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice big book of an artist I don't really like, I can't help but think he was taking the p**s, Magritte was a much better surrealist.

[Ryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Dali, you hold a special place in my crazy heart

[Sharayah P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FANTASTIC book for a (sort of) fast, thorough study of Dali and his work. Intriguing from start to finish!