The Hallucinogenic Toreador

Salvador Dalí, 1968-1970

Oil on canvas

398.8 × 299.7 cm, 157 × 118 in

Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida

Salvador Dali painted The Hallucinogenic Toreador in 1970, following the canons of his particular interpretation of surrealist thought. It is currently being exhibited at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. In this vibrant piece, Dali transmits his passion for bullfighting.¹ By combining symbolism with optical illusions and estranging yet familiar motifs, he creates his own visual language. His application of the paranoiac-critical method within this painting combines versatile images as an instructive example of his artistic creation.

The entire scene is contained within a bullfighting ring, submerged under a barrage of red and yellow tones, alluring tentatively to the colors of the Spanish flag. In the upper left section we observe a representational portrait of his wife, Gala, to whom he dedicated this piece. Her serious, rigid expression could be interpreted as a pictoral representation of her deep seated dislike for Bullfighting.3 In the bottom left section, a pattern of multicolored circles is made evident. This rectangular-shaped burst of colors immediately grasps the viewer’s attention and steers it down towards the visibly emerging shape of a dying bull’s head, dripping blood and saliva from its mouth

This pool of blood transforms itself into a sheltered bay where a human figure on a yellow raft comes into sight. The lower section of the bay takes on the shape of a Dalmatian. Sometimes, these particular details become imperceptible and out-of-context, being easier to perceive in person. The slain bull slowly rises to become the landscapes of Cabo de Creuss (Cape Creus), Dali’s beloved birthplace. It was said that concern for an increase in tourism led Dali to embrace its features in the painting.3 The mountain is mimicked on the right, however this time, the mountain bears greater resemblance to the precipitous mountains around the town of Rosas, near Dali’s studio.

An old anecdote lies behind the painter’s desire to represent the sculpted figures of Venus de Milos. Dali decided to incorporate these particular silhouettes in his paintings after a visit to New York, where he purchased a box of pencils with a reproduction of the goddess on the cover. 3Dali uses negative spaces to produce an image, alternate and complementary to the Venus de Milo. This complementary image encourages the eye to contemplate the painting in such a way as to introduce the quasi-hypnotic array of forms that inhabit the canvas. Examined from a distance, the body of the second Venus reveals the face and torso of the toreador (bullfighter). Her breasts as his nose, while her arms transform into his mouth. Their long skirts make up his white shirt and red scarf of the Toreador. The green layer makes up his necktie. His eye is found within the face of the second Venus. The soft white area unveils a tear slipping from his eye.

The gadflies of St. Narciso (patron saint of Catalonia) march over the arena in seemingly straight and parallel lines, forming the cap, hairnet and cape of the toreador. Situated on the lower right hand corner, the whole spectacle is being watched by an infant boy dressed in a sailor’s suit who is said to represent Dali as a youth

References

¹About the cover: The Hallucinogenic Toreador

External links

• Salvador Dalí Museum

v • d • e Salvador Dalí List of works Selected paintings Landscape Near Figueras (1910) • Vilabertrin (1913) • Fiesta in Figueres (1914-16) • Port of Cadaqués (Night) (1918-19) • The Artist's Father at Llane Beach (1920) • The Garden of Llaner (Cadaqués) (1920-21) • Cabaret Scene (1922) • Cubist Self-Portrait with "La Publicitat" (1923) • Self-portrait with L'Humanitie (1923) • Portrait of Luis Bunuel (1924) • Siphon and Small Bottle of Rum (1924) • The Basket of Bread (1926) • Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood (1927) • The Lugubrious Game (1929) • The First Days of Spring (1929) • The Great Masturbator (1929) • The Persistence of Memory (1931) • The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934) • Morphological Echo (1934-36) • Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's Angelus (1935) • Autumn Cannibalism (1936) • Lobster Telephone (1936) • Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936) • The Burning Giraffe (1937) • Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) • Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937) • Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach (1938) • The Sublime Moment (1938) • Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time (1939) • The Face of War (1940) • Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940) • Honey is Sweeter than Blood (1941) • Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944) • Galarina (1944-45) • Basket of Bread (1945) • The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946) • The Elephants (1948) • Leda Atomica (1949) • The Madonna of Port Lligat (1949) • Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951) • Galatea of the Spheres (1952) • The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952-54) • Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954) • Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity (1954)  • The Sacrament of the Last Supper (1955) • Still Life Moving Fast (1956) • The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958-59) • Tuna Fishing (1966-1967) • The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1968-1970) • La Toile Daligram (1972) • The Swallowtail (1983) • Other works Writings: L'Âge d'or • Libretto for Bacchanale • Giraffes on Horseback Salad Films: Un chien andalou Animated Films: Destino Logos: Chupa Chups Opera: Être Dieu Sculpture: Lobster Telephone • Mae West Lips Sofa Costumes: Costumes for Mariana Pineda Related articles Castle of Púbol • Dalí Universe • Espace Dalí • Dalí Theatre and Museum • Salvador Dalí Museum • Salvador Dalí (film) • Paranoiac-critical method

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