Gertrude Stein - the Lost Generation

Modernism

Gertrude Stein was the first to use the term "The lost generation". She was Ernest Hemingway's mentor when he lived in Paris. At first the term referred to the expatriate artists and writers of the Montparnasse Quarter, but when Hemingway popularised it with the publication of "The Sun Also Rises" it became a term that described the artists of the post-war generation in 1918 to 1930. It was a disillusioned generation. World War I had changed the worldview for the artists and it became clear in the new writing and painting style among others.

"The Persistence of Memory" is a painting by Salvador Dali. He was born in Figures, Spain in 1904 and died of heart failure in 1989. He was a Spanish surrealist painter and known for his striking and bizarre images. His primary focus was painting but he also worked with film, photography and sculptures.

Surrealism is an anti-art movement, which started in the late 1920s in Paris and soon spread to the rest of the world. The movement is mostly known from artwork and writings. The surrealist work of art uses elements of surprise to show the unexpected and it wishes to create an image without the intension of logical comprehensibility.

In 1931 several surrealist painters produced artworks, which marked turning points in their stylistic evolution. Among those surrealist painters was Salvador Dali with his painting: "The Persistence of Memory".

In "The Persistence of Memory" there are mountains and an ocean in the background. In the middle ground there is a tree with a melted pocket watch hanging over a branch. In the paintings centre is a strange creature lying on the ground with a melted pocket watch across. In the foreground there is also a melted pocket watch and a closed one covered in ants. The back-, middle, and foreground create a depth so it feels like you can go into the painting. The perspective is normal and it is a non-figurative painting, which means it is distorted features of reality. Salvador Dali uses the colours black, brown, red, blue, yellow, white, orange and gold, which is earth-colours and therefore gives the painting a naturel look. The mountains and the ocean in the background support the naturel look. In contradistinction to the realistic landscape the melting pocket watches make the painting disconnected from reality.

The mountains in the background are called Cap de Creus and they are from Catalonia in Spain, which Salvador Dali was inspired by.

The melting pocket watches fit with the modernist ideas where the traditions are thrown aside and focus is on experiments. Salvador Dali has used ants in former paintings. They symbolise death, which can symbolise decaying of time. The strange creature supports this interpretation. The creature is a self-portrait and may symbolise a time in Salvador Dali's life where he might have felt that his memories were fading and falling into darkness. These symbols fit with the lost generation. It is also remarkable to look at the one colour the painting does not have: green. Green symbolise hope, life and growth. It could indicate that Salvador Dali thought that the society had a lack of hope, life and growth, which also would fit with the lost generation.

"The Sun Also Rises" chapter III is an excerpt