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Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí I Domenech was born in May 11, 1904 in the small village of Figueres, Spain. The young Dalí attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.

In 1929, he joined the surrealists, led by former Dadaist Andre Breton. The surrealists were a group of artists who emphasized dream-like subjects over paintings based on nature and logic. That year, Dalí also met Gala Eluard when she visited him in Cadaques with her husband, poet Paul Eluard. She became Dalí's lover, muse, business manager, and cardinal inspiration.

Dalí soon became a leader of the surrealist movement. His painting, The Persistence of Memory, with the soft or melting watches is still one of the best-known surrealist works. But as the war approached, the apolitical Dalí clashed with the surrealists and was "expelled" from the surrealist group during a mock trial in 1934. By 1940, Dalí was moving into a new style that eventually became known as his "classic" period, demonstrating an engrossment with science and religion, and taking from classical artists.

As Dalí moved away from Surrealism and into his classic period, he began his series of 19 large canvases, many pertaining to scientific, historical or religious themes. Among the best known of these works are The Hallucinogenic Toreador, and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in the museum's collection, and The Sacrament of the Last Supper in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Among his "classical" artworks is the titular painting of this report, which is One Second before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate, which was completed in 1944, and is now in a private collection. In this report, I will describe this painting, analyze how Dalí used the principles of art to configure the work of art, interpret the meaning of the artwork, and finally judge its success as an artwork in the theories of Imitationalism, Formalism, and Emotionalism.

Like most paintings of Dalí, One Second Before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate (hereafter referred to as "One Second…") is filled with so many objects that it is hard to fully describe the subject matter. However, we can simply avoid this problem by calling this a "dreamscape", because of its "dream-like" subject matter. (Dali himself claimed that most of the ideas for his paintings came from his dreams.)

Now that we have classified the type of painting this is, we will now describe the individual objects in this painting, and how they correlate to each other. The center of the viewer's attention is around a sleeping woman, and two tigers, a fish, and a gun emerging from a giant pomegranate floating above the ocean.

The sleeping woman (most probably modeled by Gala) is completely nude. She is floating above a flat rock, which is apparently in the middle of the sea. The nude woman is incredibly pale, much like the Botticelli's Venus, but with darker hair. Also like Botticelli's Venus (and also virtually all classical nudes) she has absolutely no body hair, other than the dark reddish brown hair on her hair. Her arms are folded behind her head, which faces away from the viewer. Her right leg is inwardly bent, while her left leg is positioned unbent. On her left foot; her second toe overlaps the first "Big Toe", much like a sleeping people would, as she floats obliviously above the rock. No objects rest on the rock; rather they float, like the pebbles and the seashells floating above the rock. Also floating above the rock are the titular bee and pomegranate.

Out in the sea, there is also a pomegranate, but it is much bigger than the one closest to the woman. It is split open, revealing its many seeds. Two of its seeds are floating above the surface of the water, and they are seconds from splashing into it. Also coming out from the pomegranate is an extremely large red fish. From the mouth of the fish emerge two tigers and a gun. A large tiger comes out from the fish's mouth, with a smaller tiger coming out of the mouth of the former. From the smaller tiger's mouth comes a gun with a bayonet point. The point is nearly touching the surface of the skin of the woman's right arm, and appears to be mere milliseconds from puncturing it. The tigers also appear to be about to attack the vulnerable woman, and tear her to shreds.

In the background, there seems to be a displaced elephant, with extraordinarily long legs. It is walking in the ocean to some other destination, taking no part in the major action going on in this painting. Upon its back there seems to be a giant mountain of some sort. Studying other paintings by Dalí, I found that this elephant to be in another painting of his called The Temptation of St. Anthony. Also in the background, there is a rocky island in the distance in the left half of the painting. On the right of the painting, there is a large cliff, on which sparse vegetation grows on top of. Also located near the midway between the top of the cliff and the horizon, there is a nearly invisible moon.

The line of axis is obviously horizontal, as most of the action happens in a side-to-side context. The tigers come from the left, and they are about to attack the woman on the right. The elephant in the background also is lumbering from the right to the left. Most of the lines in the painting are contoured, since the shapes in the painting are all organic. The only straight lines are on the flat rock the woman is floating over. Most of the lines, especially that of the woman, are also implied, with no actual "border" lines surrounding each object. Thus, the lines go in every direction, with little length and little to no width. The only line that is truly defined is on the flat rock. It forms a sort of "authority" line, which points the way towards the vanishing line near the horizon.

The basic color scheme uses all-natural colors for each of the objects in the painting: the woman's skin tone is fleshy, the pomegranate is reddish-orange, the tigers are orange and white with black stripes, etc. The way these natural colors contrast with each other is through the use of warm colors for the "aggressive" tigers and their immediate environment, and also the use of cool colors for the woman's immediate surroundings. The rock that the woman is floating over is a dull gray and thus very passive and neutral. Most of the bluish sea is around the woman is also very cool. The skin tone of the woman, though fleshy, is yellowish in hue, and thus is regarded as a warm color, as is the reddish-brown hair of the woman. Since the woman is surrounded by cool colors, and also the skin is tinted, the effect of the woman's color is stifled. The woman's area thus has colors that are low-intensity, while the tigers' area is high-intensity. The background is also full of cool colors and also warm colors that are low-intensity, with the elephant and the cliff having non-color neutral grays.

Most of the shapes in the painting are very organic; the main exception obviously is the rock the woman is floating over, which is very geometric, except for its edges, which are organic. Most of the shapes in the painting are proportional, except for the fish and the larger of the pomegranates, which appear to be both very larger than life-size, and of course the elephant with long legs. Of course, all these shapes' purpose is to give an illusion of form, which is accomplished, in this painting. Dalí uses one-point linear perspective to add the illusion of depth, to add a third dimension to his art. Also, the tigers, the fish, and the human are drawn accurately, with an attention to detail. The part of the elephant that was not distorted was also painted accurately. The illusory forms shown are organic, like the shapes made to form them.

This work of art may use the elements of art well, but how does Dalí use them to arrange into principles that will effectively characterize the success of the painting? Let's start with balance. The balance of One Second… is informal, since it is not a non-objective painting. The main balance is a sort of yin-yang, passive-aggressive balance between the aggressive tigers in the top left, and the woman on the bottom right. The elephant in the background also de-emphasizes the tigers by adding more "weight" to one side of the painting. The cliff on the right also does the same job.

As I have repeated before, the center of attention is between the aggressive tigers and the bayonet and the resting woman, who is obvious of their attack. The use of action, violent movement, contrasted with the calmness of the woman makes the viewer focus on where the two collide. The two tigers increase the seriousness of their aggression, while only one would not. Also, the quality of the rock is repeated throughout the painting, in the sea beyond both the woman and the wild animals, the cliff on the right, and finally the flat rock over which the woman is floating. As such, the solidity of the rock is repeated.

An example of gradation in this painting is that of the animals emerging from the pomegranate. The fish and the two tigers are arranged as such that the fish looks smaller than the two tigers. Also the two tigers show a sense of rhythm and movement by just being repeated. They both seem to be heading in the direction of the woman, and an implied line from the point of the bayonet to the giant pomegranate confirms this.

The largeness of the woman and the tigers emphasize them, and thus proportion is effectively used as a major part of the artwork, guiding the viewer's eye to where most of the action is taking place, while most of the background is smaller and de-emphasized.

Thus, we can see that the balance of the yin and yang of the woman and the tigers, the emphasis using proportion, among other thing, of the violent action between the animals and the human, and finally the movement of the animals toward the woman, we can see that there is an overall unity in this artwork.

Surrealist paintings are very, very hard to interpret, but I have tried my best to interpret One Second… and I think I have a sufficient explanation for the interpretation of this work.

The facial expressions of the objects in this painting are absent, except for the fierce expressions on the tigers, which denote an animal sort of aggression against humanity. The sleeping woman is sleeping, and has no expression, except for that of vulnerability, since she is completely naked. Another element of the woman which denotes vulnerability is the complete lack of body hair, especially that of pubic hair. This denotes a type of innocence, since only children who have not gone under puberty have a complete lack of body hair. The animals are naked also, but they are not vulnerable, since they have very sharp claws, which are outstretched in extreme aggression. Of course, they are also covered with fur. The only clothing worn is that of the elephant, which has a carpet on its back, which the mountain is on. The elephant has no expression, and does not care for any of the action as it lumbers on to another destination.

The way the tigers move towards the woman is expressive of the greatest of violence, in which a defenseless person is about to be destroyed by wild animals. The balance between the yin and yang of the female's vulnerable rest, and the animal's harsh and violent labor shows the impending destruction of complacency.

Basically, what is happening is this: the woman, who is sleeping, is about to be stabbed in the arm by the bayonet of the rifle, and also to be killed by the two tigers coming out from the fish, which emerged from the giant pomegranate. Meanwhile, an elephant with extremely long legs and a giant load on its back lumbers across the background, not caring about any of the actions going on in the foreground.

We can see a clear image here: the woman represents humanity or more specifically, innocence and all that is good and true. The rock that she is floating above represents the bedrock of morality, which the righteous has floated above in complacency. They, thinking themselves to be victorious, slumber naked without the support of the bedrock. Meanwhile, the aggressiveness of animals, and more specifically, the horrors of war are about to descend upon the upright citizens like a flood. Where had such aggressiveness and evil originated? It came from the sweet nectar of the pomegranate, which seemed to be so good on the outside, but within, is filled with wickedness and war and destruction. After all, it has been said that the forbidden fruit was a pomegranate. We see a similar theme in the bee flying around the smaller pomegranate. Which is the true aggressor? Will the bee take the nectar, or will the pomegranate spit out little tigers and guns to destroy its enemies? The pomegranate, it seems, is similar to ideas: they seem quite innocuous in the beginning, even attractive. In the end, however, bad ideas lead to bad things happening. What does the elephant in the foreground mean, then? As I have stated earlier, the same elephant had appeared in The Temptation of St. Anthony. In that painting, which also was by Dalí, a group of elephants, on which ride the greatest of temptations: voluptuous lustful women, riches, etc. The cross of St. Anthony stops them all. This elephant, with its long legs and its great burden, represents the worldly materialism, which also diverged, from the traditional morality, (i.e. the cliff) but in a different way: to offer wealth and riches. Its long legs represent its disdain for others, especially those in need, like the woman who is about to be attacked. Thus, the elephant is no better than the tigers about to maul and kill the woman.

This painting, I believe, is one of the greatest that Dalí has ever made. But, in what way is it deserving of artistic merit? I will present how, in terms of how he fulfilled the theories of Imitationalism, Formalism, and Emotionalism.

The realistic qualities of this painting are great. The surrealists made their objects extremely real, yet placed them in unreal situations. Thus, Dalí did not put much stock in Imitationalism. However, he did make his objects look realistic, and thus it is the second-most successful theory that this work of art accomplishes. Dalí makes his objects look real by paying attention to the detail of the animals, and to the woman, making them all have natural hues, as would actual tigers, women, and elephants would have. Also, he did not distort any of his objects, the sole exception being the elephant, who has very long legs. The detail of the pomegranate, though much larger than it should be, is also good. The detail of the forms, coupled with shading, also creates the illusion of form, which is essential to Imitationalism. Another way he paid good attention to realism is in that he used the illusion of depth in the form of one point linear perspective, which I had pointed out earlier.

The organization of this piece, however, is not as important as the other two qualities, however. The elephant, though adding to the balance in the painting, seems to take away somewhat from the unity of the painting, but in a way its aloofness also adds to the painting by showing an "outside" opinion. What also adds to the unity is the balance between aggressor and victim, between tiger and human. Finally, the repeating of the rocks and the pomegranate also add to the unity of the painting.

What is most important about this painting is the emotions that it conveys, namely, that of violence, aggressiveness, horror, and indifference in that it shows how the innocence of the world, when it becomes complacent, is unprepared for coming destruction. As I have said before, the expressions of the tigers, the vulnerable nakedness of the woman (which has definite "Garden of Eden" overtones) and also that of the pomegranate being a host of evil, really convey that emotion very well. The indifference of the elephant also adds to the scene by showing a world where the balance sheet is the only bottom line.

In conclusion, I think that Dalí's painting of One Second Before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate is a masterpiece and truly representative of his genius. My artistic valuing of emotional expression over that of simply realism is fulfilled in this painting. When I first saw this in the library, I was shocked, appalled, and amazed at the same time. For days I racked my head for a meaning, being enraptured in the violence against innocence inherent in the painting. Now, what you have seen here is the result of about five hours of work stemming from one final realization. This painting is the synthesis of all that is good about art and moral teaching into a vivid visual surface that seemed very confusing in the beginning but gets clearer and clearer as I look at it. As Dalí said, "The difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad."

Adrian Martin is Editorum Primarium of the Intellectual Quarterly.
 
 

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