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'Soft construction with boiled beans' - Salvador Dalí
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‘Soft construction with boiled beans’ - Salvador Dalí
Colour
- The vibrant oranges found in the foreground contrast with the cool greens and blues in the sky which creates visual interest and a clear difference between the fore and background. Dalí probably did this to draw attention to the creature in the centre of the page, its warm orange skin tone is much more eye-catching than the cool sky tones.
- The orange is also a warm/advancing colour and is used to push the foreground and the creature itself forward whilst the blue is a cold colour which recedes pushing the sky into the background and creating depth. The creature being closer on the page emphasises its scale and size leading to quite imposing and even hostile connotations.
- The intense colour palette used is brighter and unrealistic in comparison to the real world which links to the surreal theme of the painting. Especially in the sky where the green clouds contrast directly with the deep blue sky and the bright orange sand/rocks which create an alien environment for a fittingly alien creature.
Composition
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- The scattered placements of the objects in the foreground create an irrational feel to the painting which could lead you to believe that it is asymmetrical or unbalanced.
- The haphazardly reassembled look of the dismembered body parts in the creature create an uneasy feel, the structural irregularity of its many limbs makes it look unstable and precariously balanced.
- The scale of the creature enforces it as the focal point since it takes up the entire page, this also links back to the conotations of power and hostility as previously mentioned. I think Dalí wanted this creature be scary and he used scale to acheive that whilst drawing peoples attention to it.
- The low viewpoint makes the creature look even bigger like it looms over us which adds to the uneasy feeling and makes the creature look imposing and menacing, conveying ideas of power and hostility.
- The unmatching scale of the objects in the foreground adds to the surrealist theme. The beans seem nearly as big as rocks when you use the crate as a reference point.
- The pose of the creature is used to frame the centre of the page which draws your eyes to and around its body constantly.
- The creature shows intense strain in its face and neck which conveys the idea of panic and pain adding to the uneasy/tense atmosphere already apparent in the painting.
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Image
Style/Technique
Style/Techniqe
The semi-realistic style of painting used in the fore and background makes the unrealistic creature even more menacing since it is placed in a realistic environment. Painting fictional things in a realistic way like this is quite a common trope of Dalís. I think it really helps drive home the surrealist feel of his work and this creature would be nearly as scary without it.
Influences
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- Dalí claims that this painting shows the anxiety leading up to the Spanish civil war and that it is proof of the "prolific powers of the subconscious mind" since he started painting it before the war had begun. I think the contorted expression on the creature's face was made like that to show the anxiety and stress created by the lead up to the war.
- Surrealism probably influenced this painting, the creature in the painting is unnerving and unrealistic which would be a key feature of a surrealist painting and would fit well with the stressful theme of the lead up to the war.
- Joan Miro was a surreal artist who Dalí happened to know. Miro’s work is very simple compared to Dalís but the shapes he uses tend to resemble these little unnerving characters which I think look very similar to the creature in this painting. Specifically how the body consists mainly of limbs. I think Dalí might have taken inspiration from them since they reminded him of the premonition to the war.
- Upon Dalís return home he found his home in Port Lligat was destroyed, The surrounding rubble and furniture could have been influenced by the wreckage of his house at the beginning of the war.
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- Dalí was also in contact with Pablo Picasso at the time. The contorted cubism style Picasso uses in his work relates to the creature seen here. I think Dalí might have been inspired to make the creature this obscure by Picasso’s equally obscure portraits.
- Dadaism was an art movement started in the 1920s that rejected modern logic and aesthetics. It tended to consist of nonsense to show the confusion after the first world war and here Dalí is painting this nonsense creature and landscape to show the anxiety leading up to the start of the Spanish civil war which feels very similar to me and I think therefore he could have been inspired by dadaism.
- Many of Dalís artworks feature these creatures with contorted bodies and it has been theorised that this might be due to Dalís sexual anxiety which is most likeley because of some horrific photos demonstrating the effects of venereal disease that Dalís father had shown him when he was young.
- After Hitlers rise to power in 1933 (3 years prior to this painting) it is said Dalí was obsessed with the shape of his back. The contorted body of the creature in this painting and specifically the near 90° of the creature's neck might have been influenced by this.
- Sigmund Freud was one of Dalí’s heroes in life. He believed that studying dreams provided the easiest road to understanding of the unconscious activities of the mind. This links directly to Dalís surrealist style and I think that the obscure and unnerving scene created here might have been inspired by Freud’s Theory.
- Dalí’s sister Ana Maria was captured and tortured during the war. The contorted face of this creature makes it look like it could have been tortured which could have been influenced by the terrible experiences his sister was put through.
- Dalí and his wife Gala were on their way back to their home in Spain with an escort they had hired after the conflict had ended. However on the way their escort died due to the stress the war had put on him, The creature might have been influenced by this showing the horrible things intense stress could do to someone.