"Dali Greets the World"

[rudy benavides]

Dear List,

Many years ago there was an interview with Salvador Dali in which he 
discussed his life and a few of his works.  About the meaning of his 
paintings, I only remember that I understood very little of what he said.  
The discussion was based around deeply rooted mental issues.  I came away 
believing that the symbolism expressed by surrealists is  often just that, 
an expression of deep seated psychological struggles.  The details, like the 
larvae, pupae, etc., are just a convenient means for describing a particular 
problem (possibly an excessive fear of death, etc.), which in my opinion, 
one should not interpret too literally. But then, as with most art, we are 
free to interpret as we wish.  Interestingly, he used insects in some of his 
works.

Rudy Benavides
Maryland
---------------------------------------


<From: Niklas Wahlberg <Niklas.Wahlberg at zoologi.su.se>
>Reply-To: Niklas.Wahlberg at zoologi.su.se
>To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
>Subject: Re: "Dali Greets the World"
>Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 07:41:43 +0200
>
>At 02:34 2001.04.10 +0000, Emily R Echols wrote:
>>I found this quote in a book compiled and edited by Joseph Head and S.L.
>>Cranston:
>>                 [The following estract from an article "Dali Greets the
>>                 World" by Ben Martin appeared in teh N.Y. Herald 
>>Tribune's
>>                 magazine Today's Living for January 24, 1960, being a
>>                 report of an interview with this famous artist:]
>>
>>         [Dali stated]:  "If you will study the entire series of cards [he
>>had painted] you will find one theme runs through most almost all--the
>>butterfly.  The butterfly is not present only because it is in iteself a
>>thing of beauty.  It is present because to one of the greatest Spanish
>>mystics, St. Theresa of Avila, the butterfly was the symbol of the soul.
>>The ugly, ungainly caterpillar, our body, enters a form of the grave, the
>>cocoon.  Out of this death emerges the butterfly--beautiful, free, no
>>longer earthbound.  To me, as to St. Theresa, the butterfly is the soul of
>>man."
>
>I wonder what caterpillar Dali was thinking of? I find all butterfly and
>moth larvae quite beautiful!
>
>Cheers,
>Niklas
>
>
>Niklas Wahlberg
>Department of Zoology
>Stockholm University
>S-106 91 Stockholm
>SWEDEN
>
>Phone: +46 8 164047
>Fax:   +46 8 167715
>
>http://www.zoologi.su.se/research/ihp/
>
>
>
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