My Little Art Gallery

Two Blue Dancers, 1899

The Rehersal on the Stage

   This is just a little collection of some pictures or artists that I like. This page covers Degas and Dali.

    Degas is especially famous for painting ballet dancers. I remember seeing 'The Dancing Class' (right) at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. There is so much detail in the picture and it's so easy to picture being there, the movements of the dancers are totally natural, they are not made to be ethereal and perfect little dancers, but much more human and real. There is also the detail of a little dog at the feet of the nearest dancer. The composition cuts off detail to give the picture a more realistic aspect as if a snapshot had been taken at that moment.

The Dancing Class, 1874

    Dali is a really weird artist. Ros said her art teacher thought he couldn't paint, but if that is the case he had a bizarre enough imagination to make up for it. I always knew Dali for his melting clocks, and I have the picture Persistance of Memory (left) on my wall at University. I like his fantasy landscapes and bold colours.

Persistance of Memory

   I saw a Dali exhibition in Montmartre in Paris, and there were many of his sculptures there which were even stranger than his pictures. The picture on the right is very clever, although I kind of would have expected the creature to be the other way around, but I suppose you are more likely to find swans on water or something. Although in a Dali picture I don't think I'd be surprised to see swimming elephants either.

Swans Reflecting As Elephants