Art Academic Essay

Zach Falasz Art 203

Museum Compare and Contrast Essay

Art is an ever-changing discipline. As time progresses, movements, styles,

and people become outdated. Adjustments are made and people forgotten.

Nevertheless, as long as creative minds still roam the earth, inspiration will be

drawn from Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Although painting in different styles

for much of their lives, both instituted profound meaning and elegance into their

work. Comparisons and differences alike will be entertained throughout by

investigating pallet, style, and viewer interpretation.

Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist is an oil painting composed in Madrid

between 1903 and 1904. It was illustrated during his blue period, lasting from

1901-1904, triggered by the suicide of a close friend. During this time, Picasso used

a “monochromatic pallet, flattened form, and tragic, sorrowful themes” (The Art

Institute of Chicago). The blue motif slated in The Old Guitarist speaks to the

heartbreak Picasso felt for the years following his friend’s death. The old man,

portrayed skeletal and weak, is sitting cross-legged in dim lighting, either outside

during the night or inside with the lights dimmed. His skin is painted a sickly bluish-

white in accordance with his hair, which lacks colors and fullness. His clothes,

ripped and torn, resemble rags. The only captivating form in the work is the old

man’s guitar. The guitar, breaking away from the grim pallet, fractures the despair

otherwise surrounding the old man. It has been said, although destitute, that the old

man is oblivious to his dejected surroundings due to the hope he receives by means

of his guitar.

Zach Falasz Art 203

Salvador Dali produced one of his most iconic pieces in 1931. Setting oil to

canvas, Dali created The Persistence of Memory, a surrealist work that is 9 ½ inches

tall and 13 inches wide. Dali, an outspoken and extravagant individual, joined the

surrealist movement two years previous to The Persistence of Memory. Dali, when

asked about his work, stated they were like “hand-painted dream photographs”

(Salvador Dali and Surrealism). This statement could not be more accurate,

especially when analyzing the improbable forms depicted in The Persistence of

Memory. One clock melts off the side of the table while a tree, now dead, has another

melting clock resting over a lifeless limb. A closed pocket watch covered in ants lies

in the foreground. At the center of the canvas, an unrecognizable, unanimated white

beast and, laying over it, another melting clock. The white beast represents

metamorphosis, a device Dali and other Surrealists used to “merge human, vegetal

and animal forms into a single unit” (Salvador Dali and Surrealism). By placing

impossible realities of authentic objects recognizable to humans in the work, Dali

allows only one way for humans to see such inconceivable matter: in his work and in

their dreams.

The Old Guitarist and The Persistence of Memory have opposing color pallets

that work to create differing outcomes in each work. Picasso’s blue monochromatic

pallet is utilized to create a somber mood and is especially achieved when paired

with the skeletal, downtrodden man. The Persistence of Memory adopts mostly

earthen tones with the exception of white and blue. The earthen complexion does

not compare to the gloomy extent of The Old Guitarist, however, it does add to the

barrenness of Dali’s work. Excluding the clocks and the white beast, the white and

Zach Falasz Art 203

blue are serviced in the background of the piece in the sky and sea. The two works

have contrasting suggestions of color and how it relates to life as it dwindles in The

Old Guitarist while The Persistence of Memory lacks vigor altogether.

Two contrasting styles were employed to create The Old Guitarist and The

Persistence of Memory. Picasso used expressionism, a movement in which artists

perceived the world from a subjective standpoint, to emotionally disturb the viewer.

Dali exercised surrealism, a movement in which “artists sought to channel the

unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination” (Surrealism

Movement, Artists and Major Works). While it is true that both paintings enable the

viewer to use their insight to draw significance from the work, The Persistence of

Memory allows a wider range of conclusions to be drawn. In this particular case,

Picasso wants his observer to fathom the level of anguish the old man feels. Dali, on

the other hand, allows the viewer to ascertain any meaning behind his art.

Unlike The Old Guitarist, The Persistence of Memory has no discernable

interpretation. While art critics have entertained the possibility of both The Old

Guitarist and The Persistence of Memory having characteristics of self-portraits, more

distinct conclusions can be drawn to Picasso and the guitarist than Dali and the

white beast. Many believe Picasso saw himself in the old man during his blue period

– art his only hope in a downtrodden time. Picasso often related to the poor, as he

himself was poverty-stricken in 1902. On the other hand, Dali, an extravagant

individual, might have identified with the white beast when creating it. A one-of-a-

kind individual creating an unconventional beast in an eccentric scene is a legacy a

surrealist such as Dali would have wanted to leave behind.

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Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali had more differences than similarities

during their lives. Dali acted outlandish at times, even arriving to an art show in a

diving suit. Picasso often worked in solitude, his paintings reflecting periods of his

life. While it may be easier to see the differences in their styles, pallets, and

meanings, the two men shared a bond that will associate them for eternity: exquisite

art. At the core of their beings, both were Spanish men who spent their days

creating beautiful images for all to adore. For that reason, they were more alike than

different.

Zach Falasz Art 203

"The Persistence of Memory." The Museum of Modern Art. The Museum of Modern

Art, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

"Surrealism Movement, Artists and Major Works." The Art Story. The Art Story

Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

"The Art Institute of Chicago." The Old Guitarist. The Art Institute of Chicago, n.d.

Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

"Salvador Dali and Surrealism." Art Beyond Sight. Art Beyond Sight, n.d. Web. 17

Nov. 2016.

Zach Falasz Art 203