Flagellation à la colonne 1964

This image, Flagellation à la colonne, was created by Salvador Dalí, though the year isn't clear. There are these incredible drips and spills of brown and black paint cascading down the surface, like tears or blood. And then, this splash of angry red hovering menacingly above. I can imagine Dalí, in his studio, wrestling with the canvas. Layer upon layer, pouring, wiping, scratching, trying to capture the intensity of the scene. Maybe he was thinking about Goya, about the dark side of humanity, about how to make something beautiful out of something terrible. Look how thin the paint is in some areas, almost like a watercolor, and then how thick and clotted it is in others. That contrast alone is so powerful, so expressive. It's like he's using the paint itself to convey the emotional weight of the subject. The dark spills feel like they are dragging the image down the canvas, like a body being pulled in different directions. Painters are always in conversation with one another, echoing and responding to the past, pushing against it, transforming it. And this painting, with all its messiness and ambiguity, feels like a vital part of that ongoing dialogue.