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Kelvin
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____________________________________________________ In the Salvador Dali Museum, there is a painting called the Hallucinogenic Toreador. The title of the painting means “an altered state of consciousness bullfighter” which also describes the work of art. Dali’s technique provides an optical illusion, as it appears to look like a bullfighter drawn into a lady’s body. Although his painting has a sense of rhythm, it is also a little chaotic. This artistic mixture captivates the observer.
Salvador Dali creates this optical illusion by “hiding” pictures within the painting. He uses this technique in many of his works. In this particular painting he “hides” a bullfighter. In order to see it, the observer must look away from it with a clear mind. If the observer stares at the painting, the bullfighter will be obscured. The beauty of this illusion is that after the observer sits and really studies the painting for a while, the viewer will begin to see different things. This is what makes this piece interesting as the optical illusion allows the viewer to see something different each time.
The rhythm that this painting portrays shows that everything has its own beat, starting small and getting bigger and bigger. For instance, Dali painted bees working together to keep the rhythm going and uses the image of the lady to continue the beat until the image of the bullfighter is complete. From all of those different patterns, the whole painting comes together.
The movement is frenzied because there is so much going on in the painting. Every part of the painting has some chaotic movement from the colors he chose to the scale of the figures he has drawn. The color combination of black and red creates tension and distress within the painting. It is like associating one event with another and eventually coming back to the original event. All of the chaotic images keep the viewer’s eyes moving to every little detail of the painting.
Dali’s use of optical illusion, rhythm, and chaotic movement create an emotional experience. He uses his painting to portray his message that life has so much more to offer than what a casual observer would notice. Hallucinogenic Toreador is a painting that makes the viewer look at normal objects in an obscured way. |
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