Assomption Aux Cornes De Rhinocéros 1958 - 1969

Curator: "Assomption Aux Cornes De Rhinocéros," conceived by Salvador Dalí between 1958 and 1969, primarily employs watercolor and drawing techniques. At first glance, how does it strike you? Editor: Oh, it feels ethereal, almost ghostly. The muted tones create a sense of something ancient and emerging, like a faded memory or a revelation sketched in dreamland. Curator: Precisely. The abstraction evident in the artwork belies a strong undercurrent of figuration, a hallmark of Dalí's distinctive surrealism. Note how he blends recognizable forms with nebulous, almost liquid shapes. Editor: Yeah, I see the "rhino horns" in the title are definitely echoed in the swirling lines forming what looks like an ascending figure. It is as if something grand is taking flight but rooted in earth. What a fascinating duality! Curator: Absolutely. The artwork deploys a muted palette that intensifies the symbolic gravity. Furthermore, it is intriguing how Dalí leverages the inherent qualities of watercolour to conjure a scene that blurs the boundaries between tangible and illusory. Editor: It also looks like the composition might involve some controlled dripping or splattering? Whatever he did to create these marks is just so affecting; like an artist-alchemist converting accident into intent. What do you suppose these rhinoceros horns represent, beyond their literal reference? Curator: In Dalí's oeuvre, rhinoceros horns often served as symbols of purity and divine geometry. Their integration into an "Assumption" theme subtly merges the sacred and the scientific. Editor: Right! It’s like Dalí believed sacred geometry and hard facts could elevate human beings—lifting us right into our highest selves. It is such a provocative fusion, even now. Well, I can tell that spending time here can open your mind, for sure. Curator: Indeed. Dalí offers a pictorial synthesis, challenging our perception by presenting a world in constant metamorphosis.