Salvador Dalí - Elephant

Surrealist aesthetics emerged around the 1920s and encompassed all fields of artistic research. Specifically, in the visual arts, Surrealism sought to explore the human subconscious and translate it into artwork through a mechanical writing process based on dream analysis. Consequently, Surrealist artworks propose the representation of a dreamlike dimension, completely dissociated from reality. However, this representation often relies on a hyperrealistic formal rendering, precisely to paradoxically accentuate the illusory and ambiguous nature of the surreal dimension.

The bas-relief is very similar to Dalí's easel work. Indeed, the exaltation of the subject's plastic qualities and the inflated volumetric rendering in a narrow space correspond to the exaggerated hyperrealist plasticity of the paintings. The setting, a desolate land stretching as far as the eye can see, is also typical. The subject, used as a model, is emblematic of Salvador Dalí and highly indicative of his automatic writing process, which leads him to incorporate key themes into his artistic practice. In this case, the protagonist is one of the monstrous creatures that also recur in other famous works such as "The Temptation of Saint Anthony": the deformed elephant whose heavy body is supported by long, slender legs.

Salvador Dalí (Figueres 1904-1989). A major representative of historical Surrealism, he was a photographer, writer, and filmmaker (his collaboration with Luis Buñuel is famous) as well as a painter. His works are based on the principles of psychoanalytic associationism, following the teachings of André Breton. His style is characterized by a turgid, harsh hyperrealism, in which his subjects display an obsessive attention to detail. His compositions are a mix of free associations, biomorphic organisms, and cultural references.

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