“The First Days of Spring” is a piece of artwork crafted by Salvador Dali in 1929. This work encapsulates the Surrealist movement and utilizes a combination of collage and oil on panel as its medium. The artwork measures 50.2 by 65 cm and falls within the genre of landscape. It currently resides in the Salvador Dali Museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States.
The artwork presents a vast desolate landscape under a starkly bright sky that is typical of Dali’s paintings, where the horizon line dramatically separates the earth from the sky. Central to the piece is a triangular structure that extends from the foreground into the depth of the picture plane. Upon this structure and scattered around it are various objects and figures that invoke a dream-like tableau, intertwining reality with fantastical elements. This includes several seemingly disconnected images: a solitary figure seated on a chair in the distance, surreal characters engaged in inexplicable actions, and anthropomorphic forms that do not adhere to natural laws. A collage technique is evident, with disparate images cut from other sources and pasted into the scene, merging with the oil-painted areas to create a disconcerting, altered reality. Dali’s meticulous brushwork juxtaposes with the absurdity of the composition, inviting the viewer to ponder the subconscious meanings behind the enigmatic symbols populating this strange spring landscape.
