Denisse Ramirez 

November 5th, 2018 

Prof. Davidow 

Creative Expressions 

ANALYTICAL RESEARCH PAPER & REFLECTION 

Salvador Dali painted the Crucifixion in 1954, a time period following WWII. Salvador Dali is a surrealist painter who is widely known for works such as The Persistence of Memory, The Burning Giraffe, and Christ Saint John of the Cross. Salvador Dali was born on May 11th, 1904 in Figueres, Spain. Throughout Dali’s lifetime, he has witnessed golden eras for art such as Surrealism, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, and more. His artwork was mainly focused on the style of surrealism and became the best known for strange paintings and images. For paintings such as Crucifixion and Christ Saint John of the Cross, these surrealist pieces have more complicated meaning to what they symbolize.  

Religion and Surrealism relate in Salvador Dali’s paintings through nuclear mysticism, iconography, and perceived reality vs. actual reality. 

Nuclear Mysticism is the philosophical interpretation of Quantum mechanics, used to explain the phenomena of consciousness, seeking to explain Actual Reality vs. Perceived Reality. Surrealism was the 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images. This meant the expression of unexplainable thoughts or dreams shown through art. The dreams would come from the animalistic side of a human being, instead of their own side. The animalistic side resembles the natural nature of a human, as one would have in the wild as an instinct. For Dali expressing this side was not difficult when viewing his work. They were very bizarre images in a wild amount of shapes and color combined.  

Crucifixion has a strong connection to the Catholicism religion and even Christianity. The painting is done with oil paint on canvas, 76 inches long and 48 inches wide. It displays the crucifixion of Jesus Christ through what appears to be a dream of a Catholic or Christian. The background is very dark and hazy, alike how a dream would look and appears to be very strange. The ground appears to be a checkered tile floor made up of black, brown, yellow, and white paint. The background consists of a storm forming in the sky, mountains, a shore or plain, a body of water, and lights of the distance possibly of a nearby town or city. The two figures below Christ appear to be followers of his. The garments they are wearing are traditional robes from the Greek or Roman Era. The follower is dressed in a white and yellow robe, long and spread across the floor in the foreground, near the center of the painting.  

Christ himself, is held up on a transparent cross of gold and yellows. The shadows of his body are also placed, but the cross itself is the only three-dimensional piece in this painting. The depth from the shadow, colors, and the shapes applied to make the cross appear as if it is reaching out of the painting. The body appearance portrayed of Christ does not consist of any warm, flesh colors such as a live body would. There are no rosy or red tints, the corpse is yellow, green, and white as a decaying body would appear to look. The fists are clenched and the head is tilted back to make the body look more lifeless to make the viewer know the person is deceased.  

When viewing the Crucifixion at a closer angle, you can tell that the surrealism used in this painting is clear and straight forward. The perceived reality of Dali is displayed through the background and the relationship between the follower and Christ in the painting. The reality of the Crucifixion is clearly different from what we, actual beings see on an everyday basis. Through actual reality, Dali was in a period of post war and in his own conflict with the religion of Catholicism. Dali had believed in God at the time, but he did not practice the religion or did not find the reason to. With this personal issue and a war happening, it inspires Dali to create a world that is viewed from his perspective of what he sees, it is a form of a first person’s point of view during this time in history.  

Salvador Dali’s style of surrealism had set him apart from other painters from his time because he used such vivid iconography and symbols and perceived them with many different shapes and colors. Paintings such as The Burning Giraffe and The Persistence of Memory are good examples of the surrealism that made him known. His eccentric personality was expressed through his artwork and gave an insight to his mind and what Dali’s thoughts were like in his life. This is what made him an important piece to World history and the History of Art.  

Religion and Surrealism relate in Dali’s painting because they give inspiration and meaning to the painter’s life. The Catholic religion has a long history of art based of the Bible, the New and Old Testament, and most importantly, the story of Jesus Christ. Gothic Art, Renaissance paintings, Byzantine Art, and so on. Many eras have consisted of art that were heavily based from the Bible, the 20th century of Modern Art had the same message, but different styles and components in support to it.  

Salvador Dali’s art is displayed in numerous museums in today’s time, they are all an important piece of history and speak of culture, religion, and of course art. Surrealism continues to be a practiced style of painting and Dali is a base example of the style. The symbolism and different realities between the painting and actual reality are significant to the viewer and how they perceive the artwork.  

When I had gone to see this painting in the MET, the painting was very large in scale. It was hung up on a wall that reached from the ceiling to the floor, it contained its own section and many tourists and viewers were taking pictures and notes on the painting itself. The painting is darker in person as it is portrayed on the internet or through books. When lighted properly, you can see the background and the mountains in the background, however in the museum it is very difficult to make out and people must squint and even step closer to the barrier to get a closer, detailed view of the artwork.  

In person you can also get a dream-like sense from the artwork, the hazy environment is very affected on the viewer and makes the person search for a meaning of the piece. It truly captures the personal mind and state of Dali and what the intention of the painting was.  

 

SOURCES 

SMITH, W. ALAN. “‘The Double Helix Proves the Existence of God.’” Approaching Religion, vol. 6, no. 2, Dec. 2016, pp. 67–80. EBSCOhost, ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121108302&site=ehost-live.  

This article is about Salvador Dali’s theology and nuclear mysticism on his paintings such as The Last Supper and Crucifixion.  

Frisch, Patricia. “An Alternative Paradigm to the Oppression of Nuclear War: Salvador Dali’s Painting of Christ of St. John of the Cross.” Cross Currents, vol. 64, no. 1, Mar. 2014, pp. 111–115. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/cros.12064. 

 

Ofrat, Gideon. “Why Is There No Jewish Surrealism?” Shofar, vol. 32, no. 3, 2014, pp. 102–119.