12/05/2015
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALVADOR DALI - 111th
Old Age , Adolescence & Infancy (the three ages) 1940
The work “Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)” was completed in 1940, near the time when Dal and Gala fled from France in anticipation of the coming N**i invasion. Dali was being primed by Gala to move away from his surrealistic roots and towards more common and traditional themes. Although this painting is officially considered a Surreal work, it is an excellent example of the transformation that the artist was undergoing at the time.
The work utilizes Dal’s now mature double imagery techniques to transform elements from the Catalan coastline into three separate and distinct faces that represent the three so called ‘ages’ of man. To the far right, a brick wall extends towards the center of the painting, and in what would appear to be a hole, a small cliff with trees emerges. On the face of the cliff is superimposed the image of a bowed, cloaked figure, whose head and clothing blend together with the cliff itself to create the double image of an elderly, mustached gentleman.
The center face, that of the adolescent, if formed from the combination of the towering cliffs in the background and the figures of both Lucia (Dal’s nursemaid) and Dali himself, both with their backs to us. The cliffs both have an eye superimposed on them, and Lucia’s clothing is creased in such a way that these elements combine to form the face of a young man, perhaps in his twenties.
To the far right, the final face, that of the infant, is also formed from the combination of both scenery and a figure in the scenery. The cliffs to the far right form the edge of the face, while the figure of the net mender, sitting with her back towards us, helps to form up the nose, mouth and teeth of the smiling infant. The net itself looks like some sort of bib or collar. A second net mender figure is seen further to the right, and farther down the beach.
Дали By : John Barous 2015 -
Docent, The Salvador Dali Museum, Saint Petersburg, FL. (1996-2011)
