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Title |
The Endless Enigma. |
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Alternative Title |
The Great One-Eyed Cretin (or Moron). |
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Creator |
Dali, Salvador (Spanish painter and printmaker, 1904-1989) |
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Date |
1938 |
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Cultural Context |
Spanish
European
Western European |
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Style/Period |
Surrealist
Modern (styles and periods)
Modernist |
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Subject |
Symbols
Optical illusions
Fear
Disgrace
Anxiety
Distress
Lust
Heads (Anatomy)
Faces
Men
Women
Philosophers
Poets
Authors
Supernatural beings
Mandolins
Musical instruments
Beaches
Cliffs
Boats
Fruit
Pears
Bowls (Tableware)
Tables |
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Description |
"The ever-present, brooding presence of Lorca [Federico García Lorca]." (Caption); "That Lorca continued to be on Dali's mind as he worked on Bacchanale is confirmed by a painting done during these months at La Pausa, The Great One-Eyed Cretin (or Moron), soon re-named The Endless Enigma. Like two other works executed the same year, Invisible Afghan Hound with the Apparition on the Beach of the Face of García Lorca in the Form of a Bowl of Fruit with Three Figs and Apparition of a Face and a Bowl of Fruit on a Beach, the painting, remarkable for its intricate assemblage of multiple images (reminiscent of Invisible Sleeping Woman, Horse, Lion, etc. done eight years earlier), presents a 'materialization' of the poet's head on the shore at Cape Creus, whose cliffs are mirrored in a calma blanca. […] For the catalogue of his forthcoming exhibition in New York Dali prepared a sketch disentangling the complicated network of images that overlap in the painting. He did not explain, however, that the Great One-Eyed Cretin in question was his dead friend. That the picture concerns Dali's relationship with Lorca is confirmed by the upper part of Gala's head, inserted half-way up the right-hand side of the picture as if excluded from what is happening on the beach. Her eyes have the baleful glare of Medusa, and in the opinion of Santos Torroella are reading Dali's innermost feelings for his murdered friend, feelings with which the painter is still not at ease … which is perhaps why Lorca has to be downgraded to the level of Moron." (Excerpt, pp.441-442); Following are the images that Dali 'disentangles' in his New York catalogue sketch, (shown in Gibson, p.441): beach of Cape Creus with seated woman mending sail seen from the back, and boat; reclining philosopher; face of the Great One-Eyed Moron; greyhound; mandoline [sic], fruit-dish with pears, two figs on table; mythological beast. (Caption, p.441) |
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People Pictured |
Dalí, Gala
García Lorca, Federico, 1898-1936 |
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Location Depicted |
Creus, Cape (Spain)
Spain |
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Material |
Oil on canvas
Oil paint (pigmented coating)
Paint
Canvas |
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Measurements |
114.3 x 144 cm |
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Technique |
Oil painting (technique)
Painting (image-making) |
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Work Type |
Oil paintings
Paintings |
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Source |
Gibson, Ian. The Shameful Life of Salvador Dali. New York; London: W.W. Norton, 1998. (Color plate XXX) |
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Rights |
Photograph reproduced in Gibson courtesy: Archivo Fotográfico Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid. |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 2447-22.jpg |
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Rating |
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