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50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship
For many, Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) represents the Surrealist painter par excellence, one whose work explored his own dream life, hallucinations, and fetishes in the process of objectifying the irrational elements of the unconscious. In this rare and important volume, the painter expresses (in his inimitably eccentric fashion) his ideas of what painting should be, expounds on what is good and bad painting, offers opinions on the merits of Vermeer, Picasso, Cézanne, and other artists, and expresses his thoughts on the history of painting.
In a blend of outrageous egotism and unconventional humor, Dalí presents 50 "secrets" for mastering the art of "the secret of sleeping while awake," "the secret of the periods of carnal abstinence and indulgence to be observed by the painter," "the secret of the painter's pointed mustaches," "the secret of learning to paint before knowing how to draw," "the secret of the painter's marriage," "the secret of the reason why a great draughtsman should draw while completely naked," and many other Daliesque prescriptions for artistic success.
Illustrated with the artist's own drawings, this volume is a fascinating mixture of serious artistic advice, lively personal anecdotes, and academic craftsmanship. It is, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "in lay-out and clarity of design . . . a remarkable work of art in itself." Especially esteemed for its insights into modern art, 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship is indispensable reading for any student of Surrealism or 20th century painting.
In a blend of outrageous egotism and unconventional humor, Dalí presents 50 "secrets" for mastering the art of "the secret of sleeping while awake," "the secret of the periods of carnal abstinence and indulgence to be observed by the painter," "the secret of the painter's pointed mustaches," "the secret of learning to paint before knowing how to draw," "the secret of the painter's marriage," "the secret of the reason why a great draughtsman should draw while completely naked," and many other Daliesque prescriptions for artistic success.
Illustrated with the artist's own drawings, this volume is a fascinating mixture of serious artistic advice, lively personal anecdotes, and academic craftsmanship. It is, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "in lay-out and clarity of design . . . a remarkable work of art in itself." Especially esteemed for its insights into modern art, 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship is indispensable reading for any student of Surrealism or 20th century painting.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
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1187 people want to read
About the author
Salvador Dalí
384 books718 followersSalvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol, was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia.
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 23, 2009
If you want to traverse through Dali's weird brain, I recommend this book. It is also an excellent book on painting, but you have to filter through all the madness that is Dali.
January 9, 2015
50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship by Salvador Dali is a tough read that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
In his book, the famous painter Dali promises the young painter who aspires to become a master like Dali himself - and Dali certainly sees himself that way - to reveal fifty secrets of the craft, which will ensure success. In doing so, Dali invokes high expectations, on which he does not deliver.
Before I continue I should clarify that I know nothing of painting, or of Dali; I have seen several of his works and like a few of them, but that is as far as my knowledge goes. In addition, I feel it's important to note that the world of art - as much as I like pretty things - always leaves a nasty side taste in my mouth; I simply find it an unethical practice that the marketing skills and contacts you posses are more important than skill or originality in deciding whether or not the art world will consider you a great artist.
Have no fear though, Dali's advise has nothing to do with marketing or contacts; it revolves around sleeping, sea urchin skeletons, and contraptions involving spiderwebs. His 'magic' mainly consists of unfounded opinions on subjects that hardly seem related to painting. For example: painting - so Dali preaches - is to be done in a permanent state of waking slumber, which can be induced and maintained by fish eyes and regular sex. His secrets are nothing if not practical though: Dali teaches a masterpiece must be completed in exactly six days and even fills in the painter's calendar for those six days, specifying at what time which part of the painting is supposed to be worked on.
None of these secrets - for example why a painter must use a certain mixture of oils including three dead wasps which should still have their stinger - are accompanied by well funded arguments (never mind that a wasp doesn't lose its stinger). The painter and/or reader is simply to take them at face value, to hold them for holy truth, because it is the great Dali who wrote them down.
Which leads me to another point of critique, but also great amusement. For yes, Dali is considered a great painter, by none less so than himself. He even shows how highly he values himself in this aspect in the form of an intricate table judging different painters on different skills like composition and originality. It goes without saying that Dali scores rather high in all categories, putting himself roughly at the level of Da Vinci, only allowing painters like Velasquez and Vermeer, who he idolizes, above himself.
On top of that, he makes it no secret in his writing that he considers himself highly intelligent, a fact he feels the need to prove by inserting all manner of archaic, long or simply needlessly complicated words into his text. He also makes frequent use of what he calls Dalinisms: wise phrases, lessons or sayings that deserve to be immortalized together with his name. Such as "everything that the eye sees is constantly formed by everything that this eye has seen before—and also that the retina and history resemble each other like two drops of historic retina". There's also Dalinist aesthetics, Dalinist skies, etc. of course. And if that won't suffice, there's always Latin, French and Italian to help him out.
All of the tangents of self praise and foreign languages made me laugh in their ridiculousness during the early pages. But as the nonsense and narcissism continues it becomes annoying and reading turns into a chore, then a fight just to finish the book.
At the end, I was left with a feeling of immense relief and a slight satisfaction for having managed to read all 193 pages (it was only 193, really?) of it, but no useful knowledge on how to become a master painter. I did get an opportunity to form an opinion on Dali as a person though, having never read anything about him. My conclusion is that he must've been egocentric, a narcissist and quite likely suffering from several OCD's. I'm left with the feeling he could've been quite funny, if he hadn't taken himself so seriously.
The way he starts his "Clear and Brief Prologue" should have served as a clear warning, but I failed to heed it. "The two most fortunate things that can happen to a painter are, first, to be Spanish and, second, to be named Dali. Those two fortunate things have happened to me." Perhaps I'm just jealous?
In his book, the famous painter Dali promises the young painter who aspires to become a master like Dali himself - and Dali certainly sees himself that way - to reveal fifty secrets of the craft, which will ensure success. In doing so, Dali invokes high expectations, on which he does not deliver.
Before I continue I should clarify that I know nothing of painting, or of Dali; I have seen several of his works and like a few of them, but that is as far as my knowledge goes. In addition, I feel it's important to note that the world of art - as much as I like pretty things - always leaves a nasty side taste in my mouth; I simply find it an unethical practice that the marketing skills and contacts you posses are more important than skill or originality in deciding whether or not the art world will consider you a great artist.
Have no fear though, Dali's advise has nothing to do with marketing or contacts; it revolves around sleeping, sea urchin skeletons, and contraptions involving spiderwebs. His 'magic' mainly consists of unfounded opinions on subjects that hardly seem related to painting. For example: painting - so Dali preaches - is to be done in a permanent state of waking slumber, which can be induced and maintained by fish eyes and regular sex. His secrets are nothing if not practical though: Dali teaches a masterpiece must be completed in exactly six days and even fills in the painter's calendar for those six days, specifying at what time which part of the painting is supposed to be worked on.
None of these secrets - for example why a painter must use a certain mixture of oils including three dead wasps which should still have their stinger - are accompanied by well funded arguments (never mind that a wasp doesn't lose its stinger). The painter and/or reader is simply to take them at face value, to hold them for holy truth, because it is the great Dali who wrote them down.
Which leads me to another point of critique, but also great amusement. For yes, Dali is considered a great painter, by none less so than himself. He even shows how highly he values himself in this aspect in the form of an intricate table judging different painters on different skills like composition and originality. It goes without saying that Dali scores rather high in all categories, putting himself roughly at the level of Da Vinci, only allowing painters like Velasquez and Vermeer, who he idolizes, above himself.
On top of that, he makes it no secret in his writing that he considers himself highly intelligent, a fact he feels the need to prove by inserting all manner of archaic, long or simply needlessly complicated words into his text. He also makes frequent use of what he calls Dalinisms: wise phrases, lessons or sayings that deserve to be immortalized together with his name. Such as "everything that the eye sees is constantly formed by everything that this eye has seen before—and also that the retina and history resemble each other like two drops of historic retina". There's also Dalinist aesthetics, Dalinist skies, etc. of course. And if that won't suffice, there's always Latin, French and Italian to help him out.
All of the tangents of self praise and foreign languages made me laugh in their ridiculousness during the early pages. But as the nonsense and narcissism continues it becomes annoying and reading turns into a chore, then a fight just to finish the book.
At the end, I was left with a feeling of immense relief and a slight satisfaction for having managed to read all 193 pages (it was only 193, really?) of it, but no useful knowledge on how to become a master painter. I did get an opportunity to form an opinion on Dali as a person though, having never read anything about him. My conclusion is that he must've been egocentric, a narcissist and quite likely suffering from several OCD's. I'm left with the feeling he could've been quite funny, if he hadn't taken himself so seriously.
The way he starts his "Clear and Brief Prologue" should have served as a clear warning, but I failed to heed it. "The two most fortunate things that can happen to a painter are, first, to be Spanish and, second, to be named Dali. Those two fortunate things have happened to me." Perhaps I'm just jealous?
September 13, 2010
In this book Dali gives his opinions on art and discuss some bizarre methods to get his creativity flowing and gives you as the title suggests 50 secrets on how to be a painter like he is (allmost)
highly recommended if you're into art or philosophy, i don't think it's an art manual though
Read
February 25, 2023Some favorite quotes:
... the best way to learn to draw is to have a good drawing teacher. I shall be telling you somewhat more when I affirm that even if he is a bad teacher, this is better than having none at all, so true it is that four eyes see more than two.
It is undeniable that every good painter drools.
If six days have been more than sufficient for you to realize your painting, it may sometimes take you several years to finish it, since it has never yet been known exactly when a painting is finished, or even if a single painting exists which is.
"When you paint, always be thinking of something else," said Raphael.
Pliny relates that Protogenes, enraged at his inability to paint the foam of the sea, furiously tossed a color-soaked sponge against the wall and that the splashed admirably realized what he so conscientiously and vainly had tried to achieve.
The Catalonian sculptor Manolo, looking with bitterness at a statuette which he had just completed and which his friend--"modern art critics"--were praising to the skies, exclaimed philosophically, "You like only the things of mine which turn out badly, for what I wanted to do was a Venus, and all that came out was a toad!"
... the best way to learn to draw is to have a good drawing teacher. I shall be telling you somewhat more when I affirm that even if he is a bad teacher, this is better than having none at all, so true it is that four eyes see more than two.
It is undeniable that every good painter drools.
If six days have been more than sufficient for you to realize your painting, it may sometimes take you several years to finish it, since it has never yet been known exactly when a painting is finished, or even if a single painting exists which is.
"When you paint, always be thinking of something else," said Raphael.
Pliny relates that Protogenes, enraged at his inability to paint the foam of the sea, furiously tossed a color-soaked sponge against the wall and that the splashed admirably realized what he so conscientiously and vainly had tried to achieve.
The Catalonian sculptor Manolo, looking with bitterness at a statuette which he had just completed and which his friend--"modern art critics"--were praising to the skies, exclaimed philosophically, "You like only the things of mine which turn out badly, for what I wanted to do was a Venus, and all that came out was a toad!"
March 21, 2024
Ridiculously superstitious, mysterious and theatrical. Completely in keeping with his artistic character, like another reviewer said, a curious combination of madness and genius. His paintings make much more sense to me after reading this. He seems to have a very cheeky style, so if you try not to read too much into his "magic" and if you can bear with his audaciousness, you will enjoy reading this book and may learn a thing or two (or 50) about the obsession behind excellent craftsmanship.
He will easily pass for an unbearable megalomaniac with a split view of the painting world: abrasive when it comes to talking about "lesser" painters and adulatory when it comes to those he regards as "gods" (Vermeer mainly). The same goes for basically every secret he shares. Some of his "magic" is purely non-sensical rituals, but doesn't fail to be amusing.
However, when he is serious, he draws on a wide range of painter folk wisdom and heuristics, and arguably some legit technical details on various skill areas and traditions among fine painters. Some of his rituals are intriguing. E.g. the afternoon nap technique of Spanish monks to rejuvenate the mind during post-lunch dip; when and when not to have sex to get the creative/productive juices flowing, how to get into "the flow" (creative zone), etc.
It is difficult to tell when he is serious and when he is just being crazy, just like in his paintings. I would totally watch a myth buster documentary that puts these secrets to a test of fire! Ultimately, a fun and quick read that can also be inspiring.
He will easily pass for an unbearable megalomaniac with a split view of the painting world: abrasive when it comes to talking about "lesser" painters and adulatory when it comes to those he regards as "gods" (Vermeer mainly). The same goes for basically every secret he shares. Some of his "magic" is purely non-sensical rituals, but doesn't fail to be amusing.
However, when he is serious, he draws on a wide range of painter folk wisdom and heuristics, and arguably some legit technical details on various skill areas and traditions among fine painters. Some of his rituals are intriguing. E.g. the afternoon nap technique of Spanish monks to rejuvenate the mind during post-lunch dip; when and when not to have sex to get the creative/productive juices flowing, how to get into "the flow" (creative zone), etc.
It is difficult to tell when he is serious and when he is just being crazy, just like in his paintings. I would totally watch a myth buster documentary that puts these secrets to a test of fire! Ultimately, a fun and quick read that can also be inspiring.
June 11, 2014
дуже хороша книжка про те, що все-таки насамперед художникові варто вміти малювати коників – а потім уже проводити хоч які експерименти.
Итак, следует признать: почти все современные художники забыли о традициях старых мастеров, и мы больше не вольны делать то, что нам хочется, - "мы делаем то, что получается". Существует испанская пословица, которой народная мудрость определяет плохих художников: "Если получится с бородой - значит, будет святой Антоний, если без бороды - Непорочное зачатие". Пикассо, представляющий собой случай более драматичный, нежели Сезанн, - он гениальнее, разрушительнее и анархичнее и никогда не претендовал на роль создателя и патриарха, - часто приводил эту пословицу, которая ему очень нравилась и которую он превратил в девиз собственной художественной манеры. Пикассо было прекрасно известно, что белая эмаль для окраски дверей, купленная в лавчонке на углу, эмаль, которой он покрывал свои холсты, через год пожелтеет, как покрытая клеем газетная бумага! Точно так же поджигающий церковь анархист не сомневается: он делает это, чтобы сжечь храм, а не для того, чтобы спасти его.
Итак, следует признать: почти все современные художники забыли о традициях старых мастеров, и мы больше не вольны делать то, что нам хочется, - "мы делаем то, что получается". Существует испанская пословица, которой народная мудрость определяет плохих художников: "Если получится с бородой - значит, будет святой Антоний, если без бороды - Непорочное зачатие". Пикассо, представляющий собой случай более драматичный, нежели Сезанн, - он гениальнее, разрушительнее и анархичнее и никогда не претендовал на роль создателя и патриарха, - часто приводил эту пословицу, которая ему очень нравилась и которую он превратил в девиз собственной художественной манеры. Пикассо было прекрасно известно, что белая эмаль для окраски дверей, купленная в лавчонке на углу, эмаль, которой он покрывал свои холсты, через год пожелтеет, как покрытая клеем газетная бумага! Точно так же поджигающий церковь анархист не сомневается: он делает это, чтобы сжечь храм, а не для того, чтобы спасти его.
November 1, 2015
First and foremost, let me make something perfectly clear: I never have been and probably never will be a painter. However, as a musician, I derive immense enjoyment from learning about the other forms of art, how they vary from my own, and how they connect. Visual art, therefore, is something I go through phases with- at times I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to it because of focusing on my own branch, but I have spurts of time when I want to learn about the craft.
Salvador Dali is an artist that I've enjoyed and despised. Sometimes, his use of Surrealism is brilliant and intriguing, albeit disturbing. At other times, he just feels too odd for me to really enjoy. He was somewhat of an oddball in all aspects of life from what I can gather; or at least, that bleeds into this particular book. Overall, this is an enjoyable insight on the fine print of painting mixed with Dali's signature oddness. Really, it is a guide to being a great painter (in Dali's own view) with a twist of Dali that can't be missed.
I hate to say this, but I have to admit that I can't find a lot to say other than what has already been said because of my lack of experience as an artist!
Salvador Dali is an artist that I've enjoyed and despised. Sometimes, his use of Surrealism is brilliant and intriguing, albeit disturbing. At other times, he just feels too odd for me to really enjoy. He was somewhat of an oddball in all aspects of life from what I can gather; or at least, that bleeds into this particular book. Overall, this is an enjoyable insight on the fine print of painting mixed with Dali's signature oddness. Really, it is a guide to being a great painter (in Dali's own view) with a twist of Dali that can't be missed.
I hate to say this, but I have to admit that I can't find a lot to say other than what has already been said because of my lack of experience as an artist!
September 7, 2020
Un libro interessante e molto, molto particolare, anche decisamente più tecnico del previsto.
50 Segreti Magici per dipingere è il manuale per giovani pittori scritto da Salvador Dalì, nel quale il celebre pittore illustra i suoi segreti, i quali spaziano da consigli sull'armonia dei colori e sulle tecniche corrette per la stesura della pittura sulla tela, fino a riflessioni decisamente più fantasiose, come quello di dipingere con una collana di agate al collo o quello di allevare ragni nel proprio studio.
Ho comprato questo libro perché sapevo del suo "metodo della chiave" per trovare ispirazione, e pensavo che i suoi consigli riguardassero più l'ispirazione che la tecnica. Per mia fortuna al liceo avevo studiato la pittura ad olio, quindi mi è stato più facile seguire le parti relative alla stesura dei colori, agli oli e alle trementine le quali, per quanto interessanti, hanno reso più pesante la lettura, probabilmente l'avrei apprezzato di più durante i miei studi, avendo la possibilità di sperimentare qualcuna di quelle idee.
50 Segreti Magici per dipingere è il manuale per giovani pittori scritto da Salvador Dalì, nel quale il celebre pittore illustra i suoi segreti, i quali spaziano da consigli sull'armonia dei colori e sulle tecniche corrette per la stesura della pittura sulla tela, fino a riflessioni decisamente più fantasiose, come quello di dipingere con una collana di agate al collo o quello di allevare ragni nel proprio studio.
Ho comprato questo libro perché sapevo del suo "metodo della chiave" per trovare ispirazione, e pensavo che i suoi consigli riguardassero più l'ispirazione che la tecnica. Per mia fortuna al liceo avevo studiato la pittura ad olio, quindi mi è stato più facile seguire le parti relative alla stesura dei colori, agli oli e alle trementine le quali, per quanto interessanti, hanno reso più pesante la lettura, probabilmente l'avrei apprezzato di più durante i miei studi, avendo la possibilità di sperimentare qualcuna di quelle idee.
June 10, 2013
I wish I had found this book when I was going through my teenage fascination with Dali. There are answers to so many questions I had back then in this book. Some of them are answers about oil painting techniques, others explore Dali's subject matter--although mostly indirectly. Still others provide a theoretical foundation for the connection of the soul to one's art. For example, I have been pondering the implications on focus, restraint, and composure in his statement that "The true painter must be able, before an infinite panorama, to limit himself to reproducing a single ant." There's a fanciful side to the author's tone that adds a degree of artistic eccentrism. For example, I liked his comparison of his mustache to sensitive antennae that allowed him to know what was going on behind his back.
August 1, 2011
An oversize book with large print and many interesting illustrations or sketches by the author. I'm not a painter and so feared I'd find this book a bore, but quickly discovered it to be very intriguing. Dali's odd sense of humor was very satisfying and I now feel that my knowledge of the process of artistic painting is so much more complete — from the artist's disposition in the creative process, to the techniques of working with oil paints. This was my first introduction to Dali's mind and I'll be looking for other books he may have written. I added this book to my reading list after reading Chevalier's translation of André Malraux's La Condition Humaine.
February 23, 2022
It is what it is, I certainly think it's worth picking up, there are lots of surreal brain seeds, Dali of course needs to be taken with a boulder of salt.
June 15, 2024
A crazy book full of valuable information for the painter and entertaining for everyone else.
November 3, 2020
This book makes clear how Dali was a genius as a painter, but not the best in sharing it.
His "Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship" seems more like a daily journal of his life than actually activities that might help someone to paint better.
His world view is indeed beautiful. The way he approaches light, dreams and colors are magnificent. His drawings all along the book are also marvelous. But the book, as a book, is not the best.
Maybe I'm too naive to get what he is telling. Or maybe he was so brilliant that his genius couldn't fit his words, only his paintings.
His "Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship" seems more like a daily journal of his life than actually activities that might help someone to paint better.
His world view is indeed beautiful. The way he approaches light, dreams and colors are magnificent. His drawings all along the book are also marvelous. But the book, as a book, is not the best.
Maybe I'm too naive to get what he is telling. Or maybe he was so brilliant that his genius couldn't fit his words, only his paintings.
January 25, 2022
Reliably bananas, cheekily catty and self-aggrandizing, and sneakily dispensing intermittent insights about surrealism and the art of art. You'll learn about the critical importance of spiders and sea urchins to your creative process - which honestly, as someone with a job and small children, resonates as advice no less ludicrous than when ballyhooed books on creativity are like "start your day with 90 minutes of meditation, then some aromatherapy and quiet journaling time!" Bring on the spiders!
September 13, 2017
Dali's master class on painting and surrealism should be mandatory reading for every art student and all those who want to understand Dali. filled with humor and incredible insight into the techniques of a true master painter. don't be distracted by the very funny tangents so much that you miss out on the deep philosophical profundity of the egg, the milk and the crown for example, or his entirely practical methodology for tapping into the world of dreams. essential reading.
March 7, 2023
Made for painters mostly, written in an absurd form (it's Dali). I read it as some of it still applies to creative work in general. I also read it to get a sense of mysticism as I was reading too much down-to-earth stuff.
January 15, 2024
silly and sublime, like the author. when he wants to, dali actually delivers some very practical tips for brushwork, paint application and approaches to working on paintings - or in his words "transubstantiating and quintessentializing"
Read
November 12, 2024Haha bonkers
March 29, 2024
---Notes---
Chapter 1
“ I should like to recommend to him ... that he gaze long and philosophically one afternoon in spring at the azure of the sky, on a day wholly without clouds and preferably in a Mediterranean country. Then he will observe that this azure is composed, as it were, of a precious substance which eludes his rational faculties, for at the same time that it will appear to him to be made up of an infinitely smooth and hard substance, like an agate sphere, this homogeneity, so opaque and materially corporeal, will seem luminous and as if composed of transparency and of spirituality itself. And in this the sensations just described will be in accord with physics, since the hardness and the violence, so to speak, of such an azure are constituted of nothing but infinite layers of superposed transparent air. Exactly the same thing is true of a beautiful pictorial matter. A color as it comes from a tube does not exist as a beautiful and transcendant pictorial matter. The latter, on the contrary, is constituted and formed, like the very azure of the sky which serves as our example, by a succession of subtle, quasi-spiritual and infinitely fine successive layers, as transparent as possible, and for the obtaining of which the magic of media intervenes; those mysteriously blended films—which will be one of the primordial secrets of this book—superposed, spread one over the other according to the harmony of their physical and chemical properties, attaining the maximum of brilliancy, more limpid than that of enamel and less fixed, since it is susceptible to all the future mysteries and aureolations of patina.”
Chapter 1
“ I should like to recommend to him ... that he gaze long and philosophically one afternoon in spring at the azure of the sky, on a day wholly without clouds and preferably in a Mediterranean country. Then he will observe that this azure is composed, as it were, of a precious substance which eludes his rational faculties, for at the same time that it will appear to him to be made up of an infinitely smooth and hard substance, like an agate sphere, this homogeneity, so opaque and materially corporeal, will seem luminous and as if composed of transparency and of spirituality itself. And in this the sensations just described will be in accord with physics, since the hardness and the violence, so to speak, of such an azure are constituted of nothing but infinite layers of superposed transparent air. Exactly the same thing is true of a beautiful pictorial matter. A color as it comes from a tube does not exist as a beautiful and transcendant pictorial matter. The latter, on the contrary, is constituted and formed, like the very azure of the sky which serves as our example, by a succession of subtle, quasi-spiritual and infinitely fine successive layers, as transparent as possible, and for the obtaining of which the magic of media intervenes; those mysteriously blended films—which will be one of the primordial secrets of this book—superposed, spread one over the other according to the harmony of their physical and chemical properties, attaining the maximum of brilliancy, more limpid than that of enamel and less fixed, since it is susceptible to all the future mysteries and aureolations of patina.”
August 1, 2021
First of all, the pictures in this book are awesome ! But nevertheless this book is a though read. Though there are some interesting tips for painting, many seem to be abstruse or simply don’t make any sense. If you are interested in Dali’s way of sketching you should definitely have look at this book. As long as you didn’t previously like Dali’s writing, reading this book like a novel won’t be too enjoyable.
November 8, 2016
This is a must read for any Dali fan. My rating is based on the book as it might appeal to a general reader. It rambles, as one might expect, and is incredibly detailed on things like the composition of various paint colors. If that's not your thing, you will probably be bored by this book. If you are interested in how Dali views the importance of drawing before painting and how to use various tools to help one as a painter get the right perspective, then you will find this book quite fascinating. If you are a student of Dali, it is almost a necessity to read this, since it really explains so much about his drawing and painting.
July 18, 2016
I haven't read it all, but I've read enough to know this book is one of a kind. Dali is a great artist with an oversize personality and ego as well. It all comes through here. Lots of information about painting, but it is not a technical manual. It is full of great ink work by Dali which is enough to justify owning the book if you are a fan. If you dislike Dali and are not interested in the visual arts, don't bother. If the opposite is true, don't miss it.
February 20, 2012
Brilliant, thought provoking, and surreal (of course). Have had many good discussions from this book. (Got here from the Book of Lenses.)
I love how his personality and ego come through, but his writing inspires tapping into the subconscious and even where I don't agree the book makes me think.
I love how his personality and ego come through, but his writing inspires tapping into the subconscious and even where I don't agree the book makes me think.
November 28, 2007
Lot's of little painting secrets if you sift through it enough.
March 5, 2008
WEird. REally weird... but some useful information on... painting and Dali's psychology.
March 27, 2008
Good supplement. Read and read again to figure out what he is saying... then a year later it will make sense!
April 1, 2008
The perfect blend of genius and insanity. A must read for all people of intellect.
July 31, 2008
a must if youre looking to improve your skill in the fine arts.
April 22, 2009
omfg. read it.
July 18, 2014
Im looking forward..!
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