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After the Second World War, Dali converted, by his own account, to mysticism. The beginning of the Atomic Era strongly influenced his thinking and led to a strong spiritual foundation for his paintings which he made with a great appreciation for the classic art of painting. The temptation of Saint Anthony originated from an entry for a film poster competition. It shows Dal’'s nuclear mysticism in all its fierceness. A naked Antonius wards off an frightening mounting horse with a sword, which, standing on legs as thin as gossamer, defies the laws of gravity. The Saint tries not to be seduced by the earthly temptations, symbolised by the horse as a symbol of power, followed by almost floating elephants which carry on their backs symbols of lust and greed. Here Dal’ dovetails with a classical painter's theme, which before was used by the painters Bosch and Breugel, Dal’'s surrealistic predecessors. Dal’, though, let the frightful temptations act in an alienating world between heaven and earth. However, this "levitation" will later reappear frequently as a theme in his work.
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ABOUT THE ART PERIOD: Dali
sublimated his life in his art of painting. Relying on great
craftsmanship, acquired in all sorts of art experiments, he lifted
surrealism, in an inimitable self-willed manner, to exceptional
heights. He photographed, as it were, associatively what was enacted in
his mind. Incited by, at the time, new psychological insights he tried
to fix his subconscious with images, and to visualize his dreams in all
their inscrutable symbolism. It was for this purpose that he developed
his famous "paranoid-critical" method. To us, one dimensional mortal
souls, only the paintings and other expressions remain as fascinating
witnesses to a literally unbelievably intense and active life. Perhaps
we are so drawn to them because not only do they allow us to have a
look inside Dali’s subconscious, but they also are a mirror reflecting
our own souls.
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