The First Days of Spring

The First Days of Spring (1929) is a painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. This is probably the most famous example of Dalí's early surrealist work.

The setting for this image is an expansive, smooth gray plane. It is elevated on the right and steps down to a lower level at the left. Clustered in the middle of this space is a variety of strange and colorful surrealist images. In the distance is the small shadowy figures of a man holding the hand of a small boy. Toward the left is a figure seated in a chair with his back turned to the entire scene.

This work was created during a time of extreme personal stress for Dalí. His father was becoming increasingly disappointed with his son's choice of profession and unorthodox behavior. The figures of the man and boy appear several times in Dalí's future works. They represent Dali's wish to heal his relationship with his father. The seated figure on the left has also been speculated to represent the artist's father.

Salvador Dalí
List of works
Selected
paintings
  • Landscape Near Figueras (1910)
  • Vilabertran (1913)
  • Fiesta in Figueres (1914–16)
  • Port of Cadaqués (Night) (1918–19)
  • The Artist's Father at Llane Beach (1920)
  • The Garden of Llaner (Cadaqués) (1920–21)
  • Cabaret Scene (1922)
  • Cubist Self-Portrait with "La Publicitat" (1923)
  • Self-portrait with L'Humanitie (1923)
  • Portrait of Luis Buñuel (1924)
  • Siphon and Small Bottle of Rum (1924)
  • Portrait of my father (1925)
  • The Basket of Bread (1926)
  • Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood (1927)
  • The Lugubrious Game (1929)
  • The First Days of Spring (1929)
  • The Great Masturbator (1929)
  • The Persistence of Memory (1931)
  • The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934)
  • Morphological Echo (1934–36)
  • Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's Angelus (1935)
  • Autumn Cannibalism (1936)
  • Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936)
  • The Burning Giraffe (1937)
  • Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937)
  • Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937)
  • Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach (1938)
  • The Sublime Moment (1938)
  • Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time (1939)
  • The Face of War (1940)
  • Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940)
  • Honey is Sweeter than Blood (1941)
  • Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man (1943)
  • Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944)
  • Galarina (1944–45)
  • Basket of Bread (1945)
  • The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946)
  • The Elephants (1948)
  • Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio (1949)
  • Leda Atomica (1949)
  • The Madonna of Port Lligat (1949)
  • Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951)
  • Galatea of the Spheres (1952)
  • The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952–54)
  • Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954)
  • Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity (1954)
  • The Sacrament of the Last Supper (1955)
  • Living Still Life (1956)
  • The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958–59)
  • The Ecumenical Council (1959–60)
  • Galacidalacidesoxyribonucleicacid (1963)
  • Tuna Fishing (1966–67)
  • The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1968–70)
  • La Toile Daligram (1972)
  • The Swallow's Tail (1983)
Other artworks
  • Lobster Telephone (1936)
  • Mae West Lips Sofa (1937)
  • Rainy Taxi (1938)
Writings
  • Un Chien Andalou (1929, co-author)
  • L'Age d'Or (1930, co-author)
  • Giraffes on Horseback Salad (1937)
  • Libretto for Bacchanale (1939)
  • The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí (1942, autobiography)
Films
  • Un Chien Andalou (1929)
  • L'Age d'Or (1930)
  • Spellbound (1945, dream sequence)
  • Impressions of Upper Mongolia (1975, narration)
Animated films
  • Destino (1946, completed 2003)
Logos
  • Chupa Chups
Opera
  • Être Dieu (1985)
Costumes
  • costumes for García Lorca's play Mariana Pineda (1927)
Novels
  • Hidden Faces (1944)
Related articles
  • Castle of Púbol
  • Dalí Universe
  • Espace Dalí
  • Dalí Theatre and Museum
  • Salvador Dalí Museum
  • Salvador Dalí (film)
  • Little Ashes
  • Gala Dalí
  • Paranoiac-critical method

Famous quotes containing the words the first, days and/or spring:

    “I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
    —Bible: New Testament, Luke 2:21.

    “sullen fun

    Savage as childhood’s thin harmonious tear:
    O fountain, bosom source undying-dead
    Replenish me the spring of love and fear”
    —Allen Tate (1899–1979)