The Enigma of Hitler is an oil on canvas painting by Salvador Dalí, created in 1939. It was made around the time of his expulsion from the Surrealist movement.[1]

Dalí related that the painting was an interpretation of several dreams he had about Adolf Hitler – one had shown Neville Chamberlain's umbrella turning into a bat – a symbol from his childhood that filled him with fear.[2] The cut telephone cord depicted in the painting has been interpreted as the communication disconnect between Chamberlain and Hitler.[3]

The painting was first exhibited in 1939 at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City, where, priced at $1750 US dollars, it did not sell.[4][5] It was then reproduced in Life magazine's April 17, 1939 issue.[4] The painting is held in the permanent collection of the Museo Reina Sofia.[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Burca, Jackie De (25 October 2018). Salvador Dalí at Home. White Lion Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7112-3943-2.
  2. ^ "Salvador Dali the Enigma of Hitler".
  3. ^ Dalí, Salvador (2009). Salvador Dalí: Liquid Desire. National Gallery of Victoria. ISBN 978-0-7241-0308-9.
  4. ^ a b Zalman, Sandra (5 July 2017). Consuming Surrealism in American Culture: Dissident Modernism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-57109-8.
  5. ^ Descharnes, Robert (1984). Salvador Dalí: The Work, the Man. H.N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-0825-3.
  6. ^ "Salvador Dalí - The Enigma of Hitler". www.museoreinasofia.es.