The Birth Of a Man
Student
ENG: 121
Instructor
September 12th, 2013
Throughout my life I have always been attracted to art, particularly the painted variety. Over the years I have came across so many pieces of art that I have found myself drawn to. My favorite type of art has always been paintings, everything from the amazing oil paintings by Monet to the abstract work from Picasso. However, Salvador Dali painted a piece that I find most incredible called, “A Boy Watching the Birth of a Man.” The painting itself really shows us what life was like after WWII, and what it could have been like if USA hadn’t have won. Like most of Dali’s work, there is a lot going on in The Birth of a Man. Dali never really gave an explanation about what point he intended to make in his work. That is always left up to the viewer to decide what it means to them.
In this incredible painting a very young starving-looking child is hid behind what is thought to be his mother peeking around her to see an incredible image. Behind her is a huge egg with a man breaking out of the inside of it with blood seeping out of the rigid crack. What is interesting about the egg is that it appears to be the globe. You can make out what appears to be the continents Africa, America, and Europe. Furthermore, it appears the man is breaking out of the United States and seems to have a grip on Europe. At first I was confused by this and didn’t understand what this could mean. Upon further research I found that this piece was painted in 1942, just after WWII. I believe Dali was trying to show the tight grip America had on Europe after the war was finished.
The colors of the painting are all quite dull with different shades of brown. I believe this is to signify the somber feelings left for everything lost in the war. Also the draped cloth above and below the egg represents the "placenta" of the new nation which, as Dali shows with a drop of blood, can only be born through much pain and suffering. The mother of
ENG: 121
Instructor
September 12th, 2013
Throughout my life I have always been attracted to art, particularly the painted variety. Over the years I have came across so many pieces of art that I have found myself drawn to. My favorite type of art has always been paintings, everything from the amazing oil paintings by Monet to the abstract work from Picasso. However, Salvador Dali painted a piece that I find most incredible called, “A Boy Watching the Birth of a Man.” The painting itself really shows us what life was like after WWII, and what it could have been like if USA hadn’t have won. Like most of Dali’s work, there is a lot going on in The Birth of a Man. Dali never really gave an explanation about what point he intended to make in his work. That is always left up to the viewer to decide what it means to them.
In this incredible painting a very young starving-looking child is hid behind what is thought to be his mother peeking around her to see an incredible image. Behind her is a huge egg with a man breaking out of the inside of it with blood seeping out of the rigid crack. What is interesting about the egg is that it appears to be the globe. You can make out what appears to be the continents Africa, America, and Europe. Furthermore, it appears the man is breaking out of the United States and seems to have a grip on Europe. At first I was confused by this and didn’t understand what this could mean. Upon further research I found that this piece was painted in 1942, just after WWII. I believe Dali was trying to show the tight grip America had on Europe after the war was finished.
The colors of the painting are all quite dull with different shades of brown. I believe this is to signify the somber feelings left for everything lost in the war. Also the draped cloth above and below the egg represents the "placenta" of the new nation which, as Dali shows with a drop of blood, can only be born through much pain and suffering. The mother of