“The Hallucinogenic Toreador” (1969-70)

Find in this painting:

1. A toreador (bullfighter)

2. A bull

3. A dog

4. Flies

5. A young boy

6. The Venus of Milo (Can you find 31 of them?)

7. Dali’s wife, Gala

8. Bust of Voltaire

Visual Clues

Spanish Bullfighter Venus of Milo, Bust of Voltaire,

2nd cent Hellenistic sculpture French philosopher,

(1694 – 1778)

Question:

Why has Dalí paired Venus with a bullfighter?

Answers to “The Hallucinogenic Toreador”

This painting revolves around the paired themes of desire and death.

Venus, Goddess of love and beauty, recurs thirty-one times across the canvas.

The hidden toreador at the center is an icon of masculinity in Spanish culture.

Together they suggest an idyllic couple, but the dying bull located on the lower left hints at tragedy.

Other symbols and echoes:

The bull Gala‘s glowing face

The bust of Voltaire is an abhorred emblem of reason. The young boy at the bottom

right represents the artist as a child.

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This illusion of a hidden Dalmatian Flies are a symbol of Catalan refers back to the dog in a painting from 1923. identity for the artist.

“Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)” (1940)

Solve this riddle

What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?

Find in this painting:

1. Dali’s pictorial answer to this riddle. Can you see the busts of:

a. a young boy

b. a young adult

c. an old person

2. A woman mending nets

3. A nanny looking at the bay next to a small child

4. A man bent over himself resting his head on his hand

5. A woman bent on herself with her head covered by a scarf

Question

Why does Dalí use double images?

Answer to riddle:

Human beings crawl on all fours at infancy, walks upright on two legs in adolescence, and uses a can as a third

leg in old age.

Answers to “Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)”

Three busts:

Other figures:

Why double images?

Dalí feels that double images challenge our sense of reality, revealing its complexity, and creating feelings of

danger and delight.

“Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire” (1940)

Find in this painting:

a bust of the 18th century Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire.

Merchants

Faceless slaves

Visual Clues

17th century paintings of Dutch wealthy merchants Bust of Voltaire,

French philosopher,

(1694 – 1778)

Question:

Why has Dalí placed Voltaire at the center of a slave market?

Hint:

This is what Dalí said of Voltaire: “Voltaire possessed a peculiar kind of thought that was the

most refined, most rational, most sterile, and misguided not only in France but in the entire

world”

Answers to “Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire” (1940)

Merchants in 17th century Dutch attire Slaves

Bust of Voltaire

The slavery of Reason:

Dali felt that Voltaire’s rationalism was the antithesis of Dalí‘s efforts to explore the mysterious

world of the unconscious.

Dalí believed that most people were enslaved to rational thought.

Double images like this one force us to confront the possibility that reason may not lead us to truth. After all, which image here—the bust or the slave market—is more accurate?

“Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln” - Homage to Rothko (Second Version), 1976

Find in this painting:

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

Gala looking at the sea through a window

Crucifixion

Christ of Saint John of the Cross, 1951

Hint 1: Close your eyes a little to see the face of Abraham Lincoln formed by the black pixels

Hint 2: Look at the sun in the painting

Question:

After reading in a scientific journal that it requires 121 pixels to describe a unique human face, Dalí

made this portrait of Lincoln.

o How many portraits are there in the painting?

o How does this painting suggest the idea of beauty?

o How does it suggest the idea of death?

Answers to “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln” - Homage to Rothko (Second Version), 1976

Abraham Lincoln

Gala

Christ of Saint John of the Cross, 1951

With this portrait Dalí demonstrates that it is indeed possible to create a face with 121, but in a bravado demonstration of his skill in addition to Lincoln’s face, he includes a portrait of his wife.

Dalí undertook this technical challenge in 1976, at age 72.

Gala, contemplating an inconceivably beautiful sunrise, embodies female perfection.

But with references to death—the assassinated Lincoln, the crucified Christ and the dedication to

Rothko, Dalí also suggests the fleeting nature of beauty.

Nature Morte Vivante (Still Life – Fast Moving), 1956

Find in this painting:

Elements in motion

Patterns suggesting geometry and structure

3 spirals

Visual Clues

A traditional still life.

Question:

Nature Morte (“Death Nature”) designs a particular type of painting: a still life.

Why is Dalí still life not still? Why is it alive (vivante)?

Answers to Nature Morte Vivante (Still Life – Fast Moving), 1956

Spirals

Balcony railing Fruit bowl Cauliflower

Elements in motion (suggesting atoms)

Patterns sugesting structure

Dalí was fascinated by math and science and he explores new discoveries in these fields through his

paintings.

In this painting the familiar still life—a table laden with food and dishes—has been thrown into motion.

Dalí seeks to acknowledge the discovery of the atom, and the new understanding that seemingly

stationary objects are actually composed of constantly moving subatomic particles.

The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, 1958-1959

Find in this painting:

Three crucifixions

Columbus keeling in front of Queen Isabella of Spain

A standard of Gala as Virgin Mary (How many can you find?)

A very special globe

Dali dressed as a monk holding a crucifix

A motive inspired by 17th century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez

Visual Clues

Alejo Fernández, Our Lady of the Navigators, 1535 Diego Velázquez,“The Surrender of Breda” or “Las Lanzas” (The spears), 1634–35.

Question

1. In how many ways does Dalí feel connected with Columbus?

2. According to the painting and to earlier depictions, does the conquest of America by the Spanish

Conquistadors have any religious overtones?

Other symbols and influences:

Columbus in the presence of Queen Isabella of Dalí’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross, 1951 Spain

A globe symbolizing exploration (of other planets?)

Dali dressed as a monk holding a crucifix

Religious ideology

Dalí views the conquest of the Americas as a religious endeavor and reproduces the images that had traditionally supported this ideology.

Echoes of Velázquez,“The Surrender of Breda” 1634–35.

Dalí feels many connections with Columbus:

- He supports the idea that Columbus was Catalan like himself by introducing in the painting Catalan

Saint Narciso and Catalan flags.

- Columbus was the historic explorer from Spain, while Dalí views himself as a cultural explorer, a explorer

of aesthetic frontiers.

- Columbus’ discovery of America parallels his own. Dalí came to America in the early '30s and in the '40s

and he made it his home throughout the war years. He identified deeply in his own spirit with American

innovation.