Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying paint made with pigment and a drying oil binder. It is widely used for artwork because it blends smoothly and develops rich color.
Painter
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí was a Spanish Surrealist painter known for meticulously rendered dream scenes, uncanny objects, and precise oil-painting techniques.
Salvador Dalí quick facts
Review Salvador Dalí's Surrealist painting, characteristic imagery, materials, and the oil paintings and works on paper documented by museums.
| Born | May 11, 1904 · Figueres, Spain |
|---|---|
| Died | January 23, 1989 · Figueres, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Movements | Surrealism |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Gouache · Watercolor |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper · Cardboard · Painting board |
| Painting methods | Smooth, detailed oil painting and illusionistic scenes; gouache and watercolor for studies, designs, and works on paper |
| Common subjects | Dreamlike landscapes, melting and transformed objects, figures, animals, and the Catalan coast |
| Other media | Drawing, printmaking, design, film collaborations, and sculpture |
| Notable works | The Persistence of Memory, Metamorphosis of Narcissus, and The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory |
Sources: Guggenheim: Salvador Dalí, MoMA: The Persistence of Memory, The Met: Bathers at the Beach, The Met: Study for Vogue cover, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation: gouache on cardboard.
Paint types used
Explore oil paint, gouache, and watercolor documented in Dalí's paintings, illustrations, and studies, with links to each medium's properties.
Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. Traditional formulas dry to a matte finish and can be reactivated with water.
Watercolor Paint
Watercolor paint is a water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. It is known for transparent color that settles into absorbent paper.
Surface types used
Explore the canvas, paper, cardboard, and rigid boards used for Dalí's oil paintings, designs, and painted studies.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support used for paintings, banners, bags, décor, and other projects. Artist canvas may be raw, sized, acrylic-primed, oil-primed, or factory-coated, and each condition changes how paint absorbs and bonds.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made primarily from cellulose fibers. Its weight, sizing, surface texture, and wet strength determine how much paint it can accept before buckling, pilling, bleeding, or warping.
Cardboard
Cardboard is a paper-based sheet material made from compressed fibers, often with corrugated fluting between liner sheets. It is lightweight and absorbent, so heavy wet coats can soften or warp it.
Painting Board
Painting board is a rigid artist support made from hardboard, wood, or another stable panel material. It may be sold raw or prepared with a medium-specific ground layer.
Painters similar to Salvador Dalí
Explore painters connected to Dalí through Surrealism, Spanish modern art, symbolic imagery, and twentieth-century experimentation.
Joan Miró
Joan Miró was a Spanish artist associated with Surrealism, known for biomorphic forms, symbolic imagery, vivid color, and abstract compositions across painting and printmaking.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist whose long career moved through many styles and media, from the Blue and Rose periods to Cubism, classicism, Surrealism, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics.