Salvador Dali Giorgio de Chirico
How could two pieces created in different art movements share similar traits? Salvador Dali’s Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening and Georgio De Chirico’s The Disquieting Muses are surprisingly similar. Both paintings take the viewer into the dream world by using different elements, principles, and subject matter. Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening was an oil on canvas painting (20 in x 15.9 in) created in 1944. Dali was a leader in the Surrealist movement, and this painting reflects Surrealism well. The subject matter was inspired by a dream that Dali’s wife, Gala, had. The nude and idealized Gala floats above a rocky platform that is also floating above the ocean. The heart shaped pomegranate (the Christian symbol of fertility and resurrection) is cut open and has a scorpion fish bursting out of the fruit. Coming out of the mouth of the fish, is a tiger, and jumping out of that tiger’s mouth, is another tiger. In front of the tiger, a baoyonet is falling just inches away from Gala’s face. The bee is located beside a pomegrante directly below Gala’s ribcage. There is also another bee created out of four subjects. The bayonet symbolizes the bee’s stinger, the two tigers are the body (black and yellow) and the fish is the eyes of the bee. In the foreground is an elephant with elongated legs found in other Dali pieces. Giorgo de Chirico’s The Disquieting Muses was also an oil on canvas painting (38.25 in x 26 in) but was created sometime between 1916-1918. The two muses are in the front of the painting. One is standing, and another is sitting. A red mask, a staff, and several other items are placed beside them. There is also a manequin in the foreground. The painting’s setting is among a couple of factories. It is a very industrialized scene that shows no signs of nature. The painting altogether shows little relation to the real world. Giorgio de Chirico was an