How are you?
On every Thursday, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.
The 21st story for this week is “Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man” by a Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.
“Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man” is a painting by Salvador Dalí in 1943, which is one of his most famous paintings.
Salvador Dalí
Dali was a Spanish Surrealist artist who was born on May 11, 1904 and died on January 23, 1989. Born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, he was formally educated in fine arts at Madrid.
Though influenced by Impressionism and the Renaissance art at young age, he became attracted to Cubism and avant-garde art while growing up. Then, Dali became fascinated by Surrealism in the late 1920s, and joined the Surrealist group in 1929, soon becoming one of its main figures in the field.
Dali lived in France during Spanish Civil War and then moved to the United States in 1940, where he achieved commercial success. He then returned to Spain in 1948, announcing his return to Catholicism, and developed his "nuclear mysticism" style, based on his interest in classicism, mysticism and recent scientific developments.
Homage to Isaac Newton, Salvador Dalí, UOB Plaza, Singapore (1985)
This painting, drawn during Dalí's stay in the United States from 1940 to 1948, seems to predict the change in the world America would bring after the World War II. It depicts a woman and her child watching a man born and climbing out of an earth-covered egg.
In the painting, the continents of Africa and South America have been enlarged, suggesting the growing importance of the Third World after the war, while Europe, represented by Britain, crushed by the man’s hand, suggests that the importance will be diminished in an international power.
Statue of Salvador Dali, Cadaqués, Spain
The blood flowing out of the egg suggests World War II and the foot of the man kicking out of the egg into the Pacific area seems to suggest that the United States will defeat the Japanese in the Pacific. The parachute, or cloth above and below the egg, which appears to be its shield, appears to symbolize the placenta of the new nation.
The woman and her child holding her legs are watching the man coming out of the egg and the woman is pointing at the man with her finger. The starving and exhausted woman, who seems to symbolize the past era, seems to be pointing her finger at the man to tell her child the importance of this new world power. The child's shadow, drawn longer than the woman, seems to represent a new era that will soon replace the old one.
Dalí Theatre and Museum, Figueres, Catalonia, Spain
In the background of the painting there is a person in red clothes on the left side of the egg, and a skeleton and a tower are on the right side. Since the red color often symbolizes Japan, the person dressed in red seems to suggest Japan, and the foot of the kicking man next to it seems to suggest the justification of the US attack on Japan.
The skeleton on the right side seems to imply that Germany will be defeated by the United States, and the tower in the background that appears to symbolize a refuge for safety seems to imply that Europe will be safe when the United States helps Europe.
Dali often used the image of an egg shape in his paintings. The examples are "Illumined Pleasures (1929)”, “The Allegory of an American Christmas (1934)” and "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937).” The eggs in these paintings are the birth of something new, of a change taking place.
Allegory of an American Christmas, Salvador Dali (1934)
Illumined Pleasures, Salvador Dalí (1929)
Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Salvador Dalí (1937)
Since this painting was drawn during World War II, it could have contained various symbols suggesting many events during the war, and the placement of certain objects is also very important for understanding the painting.
It was also used as the cover of the record album "Newborn", released in 1975 by American rock band “James Gang.”
Newborn, James Gang (1975)
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment