Dali Corpus Hypercubus
The Corpus Hypercubus, also referenced to as the Crucifixion, is a very unique painting painted by the highly esteemed artist, Salvador Dalí. The Corpus Hypercubus is an oil-on-canvas painting, which was officially completed in 1954. At a quick glance, the painting may seem relatively simple and very reserved for an artist such as Dalí, but with further inspection, one begins to see the deep rooted complexity and meaning of the painting. In order to fully appreciate this piece of art, one has to understand challenging topics such as transcendence and humanitarianism. Without fundamental knowledge of these daunting topics, the observer can not fully comprehend how science, religion, and war affected Dalí and his ability to create a myriad of great artworks.
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Within the Corpus Hypercubus, Dalí attempted to portray his understanding of the newly proposed scientific theory known as Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
This theory includes a multitude of different concepts: spacetime, gravity, special relativity and general relativity. Dalí mainly focused on spacetime in this painting, but these four terms share commonalities such as interfering with common knowledge of the third and fourth dimensions. Dalí painted a geometric figure known as a hypercube, which represents a tesseract. In simplistic terms, a tesseract is symbolic of the fourth dimension otherwise known as spacetime. The hypercube is significant because its overarching purpose is to create an optimistic outlook on life, since one’s life is theoretically encompassed within the tesseract. Another geometric formation looming in the painting is the gloomy checkered floor. The two dimensional floor formed by squares represents the segregation of humanity during wartime. It shows how people become very flat in their ability to rationale with an overall acceptance and promotion of humanitarianism
globally.
Symbols within the Corpus Hypercubus portrays Dalí’s religious background and ideologies. One major religious figure within the painting is the woman in the bottom lefthand corner. This woman is said to be Dalí’s wife, Gala, representing Jesus’ mother, Mary. This instance of portraying Gala as Mary shows Dalí’s religious background and how highly he thinks of his wife. One more religious related figure is Jesus floating on the hypercubic cross. This has many interpretations, but one seems most logical. It appears that Dalí’s interpretation of spacetime, is almost crucifying Jesus. It creates a sense that a divine being is losing his divinity to new worldviews and discoveries. It appears that Dalí may be losing his faith due to external circumstances on the personal and global level.
World War II greatly influenced Dalí’s paintings, and how he viewed humanity. Dalí’s first reference to how the war altered his style is the use of the checkered floor. The floor, alternating black and white, creates a feeling of anxiety, not knowing the next move of the opponent in the real-life game of chess. He succumbed to a point in his life where he didn’t enjoy much because of uncertainty of the war's outcome. One more indication that the war influenced Dalí is the entire background of the Crucifixion. The melancholy background filled with smoke symbolizes the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dalí greatly opposed the actions America took throughout the war. Immediately after the bombings, he became interested in forming paintings that showed humanity in a fashion that condemned the misuse of technological advances, but applauded the progression of science.
Topics such as science, religion, and war shaped how and why Dalí painted the exceptional work of art known as the Corpus Hypercubus. His overall purpose in this formal painting is to make the observer reason through controversial events and dogmas using their imagination and logic. He wholeheartedly believed imagination was a gateway to expanding mental cognition abilities. Without great artists like Dalí, the world would never truly get to experience a sensation of transcendental humanitarianism.
Within the Corpus Hypercubus, Dalí attempted to portray his understanding of the newly proposed scientific theory known as Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
This theory includes a multitude of different concepts: spacetime, gravity, special relativity and general relativity. Dalí mainly focused on spacetime in this painting, but these four terms share commonalities such as interfering with common knowledge of the third and fourth dimensions. Dalí painted a geometric figure known as a hypercube, which represents a tesseract. In simplistic terms, a tesseract is symbolic of the fourth dimension otherwise known as spacetime. The hypercube is significant because its overarching purpose is to create an optimistic outlook on life, since one’s life is theoretically encompassed within the tesseract. Another geometric formation looming in the painting is the gloomy checkered floor. The two dimensional floor formed by squares represents the segregation of humanity during wartime. It shows how people become very flat in their ability to rationale with an overall acceptance and promotion of humanitarianism
globally.
Symbols within the Corpus Hypercubus portrays Dalí’s religious background and ideologies. One major religious figure within the painting is the woman in the bottom lefthand corner. This woman is said to be Dalí’s wife, Gala, representing Jesus’ mother, Mary. This instance of portraying Gala as Mary shows Dalí’s religious background and how highly he thinks of his wife. One more religious related figure is Jesus floating on the hypercubic cross. This has many interpretations, but one seems most logical. It appears that Dalí’s interpretation of spacetime, is almost crucifying Jesus. It creates a sense that a divine being is losing his divinity to new worldviews and discoveries. It appears that Dalí may be losing his faith due to external circumstances on the personal and global level.
World War II greatly influenced Dalí’s paintings, and how he viewed humanity. Dalí’s first reference to how the war altered his style is the use of the checkered floor. The floor, alternating black and white, creates a feeling of anxiety, not knowing the next move of the opponent in the real-life game of chess. He succumbed to a point in his life where he didn’t enjoy much because of uncertainty of the war's outcome. One more indication that the war influenced Dalí is the entire background of the Crucifixion. The melancholy background filled with smoke symbolizes the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dalí greatly opposed the actions America took throughout the war. Immediately after the bombings, he became interested in forming paintings that showed humanity in a fashion that condemned the misuse of technological advances, but applauded the progression of science.
Topics such as science, religion, and war shaped how and why Dalí painted the exceptional work of art known as the Corpus Hypercubus. His overall purpose in this formal painting is to make the observer reason through controversial events and dogmas using their imagination and logic. He wholeheartedly believed imagination was a gateway to expanding mental cognition abilities. Without great artists like Dalí, the world would never truly get to experience a sensation of transcendental humanitarianism.