Swans Reflecting Elephants
Encyclopedia
Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937) is a painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí
. This painting is from Dalí's Paranoiac-critical
period. It focuses on a double-image that causes the reflections of swans on a pond to look like elephants; the swans' necks and wings take on the appearance of trunks and ears when reflected, while the reflection of a tree covered shore behind the swans supplies the elephants' legs and bodies. To the left is a self-portrait of Dalí facing away from the double-image. Many of his contemporaries at the time liked to joke that Dali added himself facing away, with a dour expression, to express his frustration with the type of audience the surrealist movement was attracting. It's speculated that Dali gave the painting its uncomplicated title in an attempt to undercut the appreciation for weirdness that had eclipsed what he called "true artistic merit." After Warhol's soup cans, it was clear this gambit had backfired.
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
. This painting is from Dalí's Paranoiac-critical
Paranoiac-critical method
The paranoiac-critical method is a surrealist technique developed by Salvador Dalí in the early 1930s. He employed it in the production of paintings and other artworks, especially those that involved optical illusions and other multiple images.- Origins :...
period. It focuses on a double-image that causes the reflections of swans on a pond to look like elephants; the swans' necks and wings take on the appearance of trunks and ears when reflected, while the reflection of a tree covered shore behind the swans supplies the elephants' legs and bodies. To the left is a self-portrait of Dalí facing away from the double-image. Many of his contemporaries at the time liked to joke that Dali added himself facing away, with a dour expression, to express his frustration with the type of audience the surrealist movement was attracting. It's speculated that Dali gave the painting its uncomplicated title in an attempt to undercut the appreciation for weirdness that had eclipsed what he called "true artistic merit." After Warhol's soup cans, it was clear this gambit had backfired.