The Quest, from Don Quixote
1981
20th Century
16 x 17 1/2 in. (40.6 x 44.5 cm)
Salvador Dali,
Spanish,
(1904–1989)
Object Type:
PRINTS
Creation Place:
Europe, Spain
Medium and Support:
Aquatint, lithograph, with hand-coloring
Credit Line:
Gift of Dr. Richard Siebold, M.D.
Accession Number:
83-G-1245
Salvador Dali was a prominent Spanish artist in the Surrealist art movement. He created a Surrealist technique called ‘paranoiac critical’ which was applied by not only other artists but also in collaborative works with Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney, and the designer, Elsa Schiaparelli. Dali was famous for his eccentric personality even compared to his fellow Surrealist artists, a group from which he was expelled a number of times. His works often incorporate themes of death, religion, and eroticism.
Surrealism was a major art movement of the early 20th century, both influenced by and interconnected with the period’s politics, philosophies, and emerging psychoanalysis. Surrealist artists rejected depictions of reality and focused on unlocking the imagination through dreams and the unconscious, believing this was key to one’s authentic inner voice, unweighted by the taboos of society. They often played with concepts using techniques such as ‘automatism’ which allowed for the artist’s subconscious to take control rather than pre-planning their works. Utilizing technologies like the darkroom manipulation of photographs, Surrealists were able to create bizarre results like doubling images of themselves or making the subjects appear ethereal.
Liana Rose D. Salazar
Class of 2022
Curatorial Intern
Current Location:
Art Museum : 20 C Gallery
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@lasalleuniversityartmuseum
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