Exploring Salvador Dalí’s ‘The Great Masturbator’: A Surrealist Masterpiece
The Great Masturbator
Author: Salvador Dalí
Date: 1929
Style: Surrealism
Technique: Oil on canvas
Support: Canvas, 1.1 m x 1.5 m
1. Classification of the Work
‘The Great Masturbator’ is a significant piece of Salvador Dalí’s work that represents the surrealist movement in Paris, France. Dalí joined the School of Fine Arts in Madrid and became involved in surrealism in the late 1920s, utilizing the paranoiac-critical method to capture the unreal aspects of the dream world. From 1940 until 1955, Dalí explored themes of religion and marketing, creating extravagant images that reflect the world of dreams in a figurative manner. The primary themes of this work are sex and death, with the box shapes representing one of Dalí’s obsessions. The painter had just met Gala and struggled to communicate his fascination with her. Upon returning to Paris, this painting evokes strong sexual content.
Description of the Painting
The painting is executed using oil on canvas, where the binder is a vegetable oil that adapts well to various supports. The oil painting technique allows colors to blend delicately, creating a sweet and harmonious effect. The formal and compositional elements include:
- a) The use of color defines the dibuxística.
- b) The composition is closed, with elements arranged on a similar plane.
- c) The central figure is a portrait of the painter, supported by a large nose, with a side profile of a woman (likely Gala) approaching genitalia.
- d) Asymmetry is present, balancing the male figure with other characters.
- e) Depth is created through shadows, color, line, and the size of figures.
- f) There is no strict geometry; instead, it employs linear and aerial perspectives.
- g) Artificial light is diffused, projected from an invisible source.
- h) The interplay of light and shadow creates volume and depth.
- i) High contrast colors dominate, with warm colors in the foreground and cooler tones in the background.
- j) The expression is figurative yet unnatural, reflecting Dalí’s sexual obsessions.
- k) The work maintains a balance between movement and rest, embodying classicist elements.
- l) The painting relates to similar works by the author and the surrealist school.
Influences and Context
Influences:
- Surrealism in the second half of the 1920s.
- New York School.
- Meaning and function in relation to clients.
Dalí’s surrealism reflects a vital attitude aimed at restoring the unity of man, which Western culture, primarily through reason, had failed to achieve. This movement emphasizes instinct and intuition.
The artists of this style engage in a process of decontextualization, where wonderful beings and objects emerge from the clash between everyday reality and the pursuit of pleasure, leading to surrealism, defined as the unveiling of hidden meanings.
Symbolism in ‘The Great Masturbator’
Dalí painted this piece filled with sexual symbols and false metal, symbolizing his feelings and carnal passions in the absence of Gala, represented by the broken string of the hook. The lion and its language, along with the lobster caught in the mouth and eaten by ants, symbolize childhood fears. Additionally, a lily appears as a symbol of purity. The main role of the painting is to expose the inner theories of Sigmund Freud, with recognizable forms shaping the world of dreams and the subconscious. Dalí expresses his sexual problems through psychoanalysis and the paranoiac-critical method.
Conclusion
Through introspection and Freudian roots, Dalí presents the dilemma between deceptive images processed by the filters of consciousness and reason, creating a profound commentary on the human experience.