The Hallucinogenic Toreador
“What in the world is that supposed to be?” This is what I find to be my reaction when I look at Salvador Dali’s paintings. Perhaps you’ve thought the same way about other artist’s paintings, perhaps Picasso. The interesting things about Dali’s paintings are that most of them have more than one meaning and every time you look at the painting you notice something different. For this paper we will go on a journey and try to figure out what Dali was thinking while painting, The Hallucinogenic Toreador. In the painting there is a fairly small color pallet considering all the things painted. Dali used the colors: blue, green, white, red yellow and, black. Dali also uses several different shades and highlights of each of the previous colors to add effect and detail to his painting. In the Hallucinogenic Toreador you will find all kinds of eye catching images. One of the first things you notice in the bottom half of the painting is this weird square/rectangle made up of several colorful dots. Just below that you notice there is a bull’s head drinking from a pond, then you relive that the dots are in between the bull’s horns. What the heck is the meaning behind the square made of dots? While you’re asking yourself that question you will notice there is a little boy looking towards the pond and in front of him is a single file line of giant flies, then you notice that there are a ton of flies painted throughout the painting. Oh gosh, there are already so many images in this painting, but there are oh so more. In the top portion of the painting it appears to have the background as if you were inside a Coliseum. There are several floating statue heads with a colorful aura around them, and there is even a head of a man, perhaps Dali? There are also random floating flowers on a mountain. There are even more flies throughout the Coliseum. You will also see a white patch with a green stroke in the middle of it. Next to the white patch you will see the same type
References: The Hallucinogenic Toreador by Salvador Dalí. (2000, October). Retrieved November 15, 2012, from http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/5/ac-0605_article.htm#suggestedcitation The Hallucinogenic Toreador. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2012, from http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/salvador-dali/hallucinogenic-toreador-1970