The Face of War, a surrealistic painting, was made by Salvador Dali in 1940. It is an oil on canvas work, measuring 25.2 by 31.1 inches. This work was painted between the end of the Spanish Civil War and the beginning of the Second World War, during a brief period of Dali living in Calfornia. Dali, born in 1904, was thirty-six years old when he painted The Face of War.
Dali is best known for his bizarre images contributing to the heritage of surrealistic art. I find Dali’s paintings very interesting. I can look at them for hours and try to figure out what he wanted to tell the world by painting such things. Dali was often inspired by the trauma of war. This painting is a good example of that matter.
We can see a disembodied head, floating around in a barren landscape. The landscape symbolizes the destruction and collective feeling of loneliness during a war. The head is decayed, the eyes have been eaten out by time. The facial expression is very moving. It breathes desperation, fear and terror. Inside the mouth and eye sockets of the head are more heads with the same facial expression and also with more heads in their eye sockets and mouth. This process goes on an on, seemingly infinite. Aggressive snakes can be found around the head, trying to bite and hurt it. This symbolizes the constant attacks people suffer during a time of war.
In the lower right corner we see a handprint, left in the oil. Dali kept on insisting that this handprint had been left by his own hand. The painting now resides in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the main art museum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Jessica Van Sintruyen
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten