Introduction

Art is a practice that has existed for several centuries where the use of images was used to convey a certain message, which could have a hidden meaning or a surface meaning that is easy to understand. The information for this paper is based on the fact that images can be “read” and the message within that image interpreted. Subsequently, the artwork on the “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans: Premonition of Civil War (1936)” by Salvador Dali, seems foreign and repellent to me. As such, this essay focuses on the analysis of this piece of art.

The painting looks a little scary and quite difficult to comprehend at a single glance. The painting is eye catching and will require that a person’s eyes stay glued to it if at all they are to understand what the painting is all about what were the intentions of the artist. Every feature and detail in the painting is evidently strange, exotic, and incompatible and to some extent, the painting shows some aspects of obnoxiousness. At a closer look, it is possible to notice the huge human body that seems to have transformed into monstrous arms and legs, which are tearing at each other, in a circular form. As much as the painting is a representational art, I feel that the act of holding and pulling the breast is erotic and obnoxious in a way that is against the cultural beliefs of some societies. The reason for this is that several people in the world consider breasts as private and should be hidden; rather, the painting seems to expose this part. The art piece is mainly focused on the huge figure made of hands, feet,the sky, clouds, and some desert-like landforms with mountains in the extreme background. At a closer scrutiny, there is a figure of a smartly dressed man on the left-hand side. Additionally, there is a chest of drawers that seem to support the central part of the strange figure as well as some beans that are scattered on the ground.

The exotic figure stretches out almost reaching the sides of the square frame, covering more than half of the painting and a small portion of the illuminated sky, as well as ground cover. The sky is colored blue and light green with whitish clouds while the ground has brown and gray formations. and agony that the figure is going through. This painting seems to depict the pain and confusion that human beings go through, where there is oppression from all sides of the world we live. It shows the senselessness in the in a world that is tearing itself down despite the power held by the different entities of leadership meant to promote harmony and oneness in the system. These huge problems seem to overwhelm the educated and well-organized individuals in the society as depicted by the huge unusual looking figure and the little smartly dressed man in the background.

According to Immerwahr (2012), Salvador Dali, born on 1904 in Catalonia, was an incredibly bright man who believed that the world would remember him many years after his death. He was the most versatile and prolific painters of the 20^th century who painted the famous gruesome and powerful oil painting, “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans: Premonition of Civil War (1936).” Immerwahr (2012) asserts that this dismembered figure symbolizes the war-torn human and Salvador Dali painted it to prophesy the coming and results of the Spanish Civil War. In addition, ESQ (2008) argues that the boiled beans represent the ancient Catalan offering that was given to the gods. As such, Dali is portrayed as an individual who loved the Catalan culture as well as the landscape, which he included in most of his paintings. As much as the bizarre painting did not seem to bring forth any meaningful message to me, Dali, the founder of surrealism gave every detail in the painting a meaning (ESQ, 2008).

Considering the interpretations given by Immerwahr and the ESQ, I feel like I misinterpreted the message on the painting, to some extent, even though I was right at some point. I was proven wrong because the obnoxiousness and gruesomeness depicted in the painting has a purpose and a valid reason. For instance, given the historical and the biographical information of the painting, it is evident that the settings in which the painting was developed in had some level of incompatibility and senselessness. The timing of the painting was during a chaotic period of the Spanish Civil War that tore the nations within it and brought agony to the people.

The people who viewed the artistic works of Dali concluded that he used the “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans” painting to engage himself in the Spanish political systems. Since he was locked out of the Spanish political systems, Dali decided to exercise his epitome of Surrealism in the art to show the negative side of the systems. Nevertheless, this painting shows the perceptions of Dali where he was foretelling about the imminent Spanish Civil War as well as fusing the political arena with the actual world as Dali saw it be in his mind. It is through this painting that Dali contributed towards the political system and expressed what was in his subconscious mind about a body that was tearing itself into pieces, resembling the internal struggles in Spain.

Immerwahr (2012) and ESQ (2008) described the painting in a perspective that was also almost similar to that of Salvador Dali, looking at every feature in the painting. Thedeformed, and decomposed. Amazingly, this foot seems to support the entire feature on the right-hand side as well as a chest of drawers at the middle to symbolize things that are kept secret from the knowledge of the public. The (Shanes, 2012).

At first, I thought the painting was exotic with no much meaning but the mere stretching and pulling of the body parts, as well as the agonized facial expression. I also felt that the painting was quite distasteful as it exposed the breasts part that most cultures considers private and not meant for public display. submerged in a pool of war and senselessness. All these insights obtained from the interpretations have made me change my perceptions towards the painting and view it in a positive way like Salvador Dali intended.

Conclusion

A single glance at a painting will never give the correct meaning of

References

Immerwahr, J. (2012). “Dali – Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (G 174).” TaskStream. Retrieved from https://w.taskstream.com/ts/immerwahr/ModernArt.html/aefbfn00a7edfefcfdfaf9e6eu

ESQ. (2008). absolutethoughts.com: Self Construction With Boiled Beans. Retrieved fromhttp://esq-esq.blogspot.com/2008/03/museum-visit.html

Shanes, E. (2012). The Life and Masterworks of Salvador Dali?. New York: Parkstone International.