Salvador Dali Elephants

Salvador Dali was a provocative and original artist and human being. He referred to his paintings as “hand-painted dream photographs.” His strange and beautiful paintings are remarkably like dreams. He manages to capture the very bizarre reality of a dream landscape, where as if in a dream, even though you are aware that what you are seeing does not in any logical way make sense, on some deeper level the image does make perfect sense. His paintings are like looking at emotions and sensations in the form of familiar objects or beings transformed into exaggerated versions of their former selves.

The Elephants

This exquisite painting is one of Dali's most prominent paintings that he has ever created. Shown is two elephants with elongated legs in which Dali has captured the graceful and elegance in the animals despite of their wide and bulky appearance. The colors are a sun driven vibrant feeling most likely when the sun is setting during the evening time. The elephants appear to be facing off against each other and it also appears that they might be fighting in a duel but Dali has created so much mystery in this one-of-a-kind painting that it is hard to tell. The painting has many levels to it making us continue to look at it and analyze what it could be.

This painting is a recurring image in most of Dali's works. It appears again in The Temptation of Saint Anthony and Swans reflecting Elephants. The painting was inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture in Rome of an elephant. The elephant in Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture is carrying an ancient obelisk which is also displayed in Salvador Dali's painting. One analysis explains that the painting creates a sense of "Phantom Reality".

As Dali said: "I am painting pictures which make me die for joy, I am creating with an absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern, I am making things that inspire me with a profound emotion and I am trying to paint them honestly." which describes Salvador Dali's Elephants painting.

 Salvador Dali's Elephants is one of the most prominent and impressive paintings to ever come from Mr. Dali and his career. One of his most iconic images to have ever been produced.