Homework Monday 19th July
Homework; Due Wed 21st July
Outline five different symbols/images that appear in the following painting Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War), 1931, by Salvador Dali. In your response describe what you think these five symbols/images mean or symbolise (i.e why has Dali painted them, what do or could they mean, what could they reflect).
If you are totally unsure then you might meed to do a bit of research into the painting.
Comments
Yr 10 Visual Arts 
-clouds
-hand
-feet
-women kinda head
-box
it looks like somethings bringing him down and the sky was cloudy before but now its becoming more blue. Theres someone standing on the body and the hand from the body being stood on seems like somehting brought it down but now its becoming strong again because one hand is becomin muscular and lifting the bad thing away.
I still believe strongly that Dali’s dream sign ( an image, object , person , anything that appears in your dreams constantly) is barren areas.
This could be from feelings as a child or even as an adult which have not been resolved or confronted and thats why the images of dali’s subconscious mind is repeating it self over and over which shows throughout his works.
There is a soldier which is very small looking down and upset, the man could stand for someone important in Dali’s life that had experienced a type of war or emotional struggle.
The title premonition of civil war suggests a strong emotion that something horrible is about to happen.
Salvador expresses this by use of a figure and a face, the face shows pure derangement and stress. the muscles of the limbs are hard and slightly exaggerated by the use of tone of colours ( dark browns and then a yellow).
all the commotion is surrounding a small cupboard which suggests wild emotions in Salvador’s life or even emotions or thoughts closed off which should be expressed rather then secluded.
the size of the limbs/figure is monstrous compared to the little soldier which suggests the amount of time emotions have been suppressed. This is because the problem is not being resolved therefore the subconscious mind is trying to find ways in dream images to present it self.
the ends of the limbs /figure look like its beginning to be decomposed which suggests on the length of time of an emotion or problem, the problem has been in his life for so long that in the images it shows.
there is a breast on the figure where the hand is grabbing which says that the figure is a female, but the hand seems forceful and aggressive causing the face pain.
in salvador dali’s artwork “Premonition of Civil War” he wanted to show the struggle of war that can be self-fulfilling and self-mutilating at the same time. The face in this art work shows pain and suffering which may relate to how dali felt towards the civil war. However the breast attached to the figure where the muscular, intense hand is pulling the breast as if its pulling this figure apart, this also indicates that the figure is a female, causing pain in the figure of face, where it looks to be crying out. The little man in the bottom left hand corner looks depressed, where this could represent the survival of someone important in Dali’s life in which they may have experienced a similar suffering in relation to war. Although the whole leg and foot on this figure look to be all bone and no flesh, showing the distortion of war to human kind.
The images in this picture depict a distorted human form that appears to be in pain. This could link to the fact that this art work is a ‘premonition of civil war’. Meaning, that Dali had a suspicion that civil war would occur. The look of pain on the figure could relate to the pain brought with war and the future suffering that may occur. Sources suggest that the connotation of food is expressed in this image, however, in this painting, the food is aggressively presented. It isn’t viewed as a banquet, instead there is no choice of food. The last resources of food are within the distorted and twisted body. This shows Dali’s anguish filled views on war. It is also interesting to note that this painting was painted before the Civil war in Spain. Perhaps the dark clouds in the foreground could be symbolic of Dali’s premonition of civil war and the storm like disruption this war could lead to.
There were already many revolts that had been going on in Spain, so it must have been obvious to Dali that the war was coming. The expression on the face in the picture shows great pain. The idea of self mutilation and the hand pulling on, well, whatever it is, shows not just pain but harm. The clouds in the background which leave small room for blue sky and aren’t too dark yet may show how he can see something bad is going to happen, and soon but hasn’t just yet. That’s what I get from it. The representation of the food along with the look of the mutilated body could maybe represent a struggle to get the food. The way the feet and hands are bony and shrivelled could represent starvation, or maybe suffering and pain. It may also represent illness. Many people were living in poverty so the representation of illness and starvation seem accurate.
Salvador Dali’s work, ‘Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)’ represents the fear and terror caused by the Sapnish war on people in the proceeding years. The scowling disjointed figure is symbolic of the Sapinsh state civil war. It is grasping upward at itself while holding itself down underfoot. The face of the figure is scary looking and reminds us of the mythological legend of Saturn devouring one of his children. The figure of Saturn making reference to war and chaos; the boiled beans, edible substances symbolise destruction.
The painting ‘ Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)’ was a painting Dali finished 6 months before the Spanish Civil War, he had a premonition of the war happening before it did. The painting has many symbols in it, i think the main ones would be the decaying dismembered figure which shows a grotesque depiction of war and the death war causes (Dali was very openly against war) as well as symbolizing war-torn humanity, grasping upward at itself while holding itself down. There is also a decaying head at the top of the body pieces, which refers to the mythological legend of Saturn devouring one of his children. The beans down the bottom are referring to the ancient Catalan offering to the gods. There is also a little man in the bottom left corner, this is a representation of the astonishing, awe-inspiring spirits contained in the souls of Dali’s childhood friends.
Self- construction with boiled beans is a painting by Salvador Dali. It was finished six months before the Spanish civil war. In the painting Salvador Dali has depicted many body parts including arms and legs. They are body parts from the same person and are shown that they are hurting one another. The beans are offerings that ease evil spirits. The figure is stretching and bending to reach for truth and meaning in the aftershock of the war. There is a head, which looks like its in pain at the top of the painting. I think this shows the pain that the people were in during and after the war. The clouds are all dark and in different colours, but then there is an opening that is blue. I think this means that there’s hope.
Barren desert
Decay
Box
Distorted figure
Strain
In Dalis work I believe that these 5 symbols represent the struggles of war and Dali’s own personal views on how war is sickening and gruesome. The box suggests that these are thoughts that should have been or were boxed away in Dalis subconscious mind.
* Decaded face- shows strain and suffering.
* Low horison line- creates an open and vast environment.
* Distorted human body parts-also portrays pain and suffering as the parts are strangling and rapping around one another.
* Small box
* Deserted landscape- suggests a lonely, abandoned space.
The use of these 5 symbols and images reflects the agression and struggles of war, this is shown through the realistic rendering of the distorted figures.
The Artwork is highly realistic and has alot of tonal qualities.
– Box
– Blue sky
– Clouds
– Hands
– Dirt
To me, this is a dream-like artwork, it looks very lonley & bleak .
It is a mix of realistic features and non-realistic features.
These symbols represent some of the human figure, and the environment.
There is also a variety of tonal techniques & shadows.
Salvador Dali’s painting has the symbol of the cam sky with clouds. Although the actual painting itself is contorted and gruesome, the background is calm, not reflective of the rest of the painting. The large amount of sky also makes the actual figure look more monumental. It is grasping up at itself, while at the same time holding itself down, symbolising the seemingly eternal struggle of war. The whole painting, with it’s gruesome features, reflects on Dali’s opinions of the Spanish civil war. He hated war, and this reflects in his painting.
-the cloudy sky bring sadness into the artwork
-the decapittaed body parts show the large impact of war
-the distorted figures show dali’s perception of war and there is no life in this artwork because dali hated war
-the figures in the artwork and the fact there is no happiness present shows his negative niew towards war