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Salvador Dali Portrait Of My Dead Brother Essay

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Known for his abstract paintings, Salvador Dali was a very influential and well-known artist. Many may think his work is strange, but each painting of his was well thought out to convey a message. Dali included tons of symbolism and details from his past in his paintings. The more knowledge you have on Dali, the easier it is to decipher his paintings. Portrait of My Dead Brother is a painting by Dali that reflects an important event in his life. The painting is 69 by 69 inches, and was completed in 1963 when Dali was 59 years old (“Portrait of My Dead Brother”). In order to understand the painting, some of Dali’s background is important to know. Before Dali was born, his parents had another baby. The child, also named Salvador Dali, died when he was young. Dali was born nine months later. Dali’s parents believed that Dali was a reincarnation of his older brother, because of how close the birth and death were (Dooley). Being the “replacement child” was a hard role for Dali. He struggled with this information, feeling the pressure to live up to his parents expectations. Portrait of My Dead Brother is a reflection of that struggle. The painting depicts a male’s face, constructed …show more content…

To depict the two brothers, Dali uses contrasting colors, using cherries. It’s possible that Dali got the ideas for the dots from pop art, which was a popular technique at the time (Paul Chimera). Dali stated that “…the dark cherries create the visage of my dead brother, the sun-lighted cherries create the image of Salvador living” (Portrait of My Dead Brother). The two brothers being represented in the same face symbolizes Dali’s struggle with identity. Dali felt like he was his brother, because that’s what his parents told him. He constantly lived in the shadow of his brother, a struggle many siblings could relate to. This need to wish to stand separate from his brother may have been the reason for Dali’s eccentric

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