Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid Archives - The Artist

The Great Masturbator

Afzal Ibrahim — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 14:20:55 +0000

The Great Masturbator is an oil painting produced in 1929 by Spanish painter Salvador Dali.

Salvador Dalí wanted this painting to be kept at the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, his personal collection.

At The center of the painting The Great Masturbator, a distorted figure similar to a human face was looking downwards. The figure was based on a natural rock formation like shape similar to the formation at Cap de Creus along the sea shore of Catalonia. Dali painted The Persistence of Memory two years later and included in it the same figure. A naked female rise from the back of a head resembling similar to Dali new wife Gala and this figure could be the reason as the title of painting suggest The Great Masturbator. The mouth of the female was placed near the male crotch which suggests that Fellatio was going to happen. The male figure painted had bleeding cuts in knees and seen from his waist portion only. This painting represents Salvador Dali attitudes and thoughts towards sexual intercourse. The dimensions of the painting were 110 cm × 150 cm or 43.3 in × 59.1 in.

The work can be viewed at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

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Guernica

Afzal Ibrahim — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 14:19:59 +0000

Guernica is a painting produced in 1937 by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.

One of the most influential political paintings in the world with a strong message against war although critiques interpret it ambiguous.

Artistic response to the bombing of Basque village Guernica, the painting describes the agony of people, animals, and their environment. Military action was enforced by Italian and German forces but it was requested by Franco, essentially it was the act of supporting his regime. Horror of civil war in Spain is seen by the world, mural-sized painting with gray, black, and white palette revive tragedy in the eyes of the spectator.

On the other hand, painting does not indicate a specific event, it is rather a collage of symbolic images of war indented to warn mankind, one of which is a mother crying over her dead child. Two dominant motifs in Picasso’s art bull and horse are clearly visible in Guernica and causing a variety of interpretations, even in extreme cases give off a negative connotation to the entire painting.

One of the most influential political paintings in the world with a strong message against war although critiques interpret it ambiguous.

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