Willis, the Dali Reading
The overall thesis of the article is the identification of the source of Dali’s inspiration. In this case, Willis is trying to prove that St. John of the cross inspires most of Dali best art works. He sets his path in identifying some of the art works that have come later after the meeting with the Spanish Father.
Dali described himself as a Spanish mystic of his time (1950) and believed himself a saint of Spanish whose divine purpose is to rescue painting from imprisonment in the blasphemous aesthetics of the modern world. He considered his work divine inspiration, and a healing part of the ailing painting work. He believes himself as a savior.
Dali’s main encouragement on the painting he did on St. John of the cross was his dream, but letter he got more inspiration from his meeting with Father Bruno De Jesus Marie, who is a French monk and an authoritarian of mysticism. He showed him a reproduction of the original painting of St. John, which he had drawn of Jesus on the cross and discussed with him the saint’s life and history.
Dali related himself more with the saint because he believed himself a divine artist, as was St. John. St. John painted pictures from his dreams, which were believed to be divine. The case was the same with Dali to himself who also claimed to have drawn the Christ of St. John of the cross from his cosmic dream.
He describes the Madonna painting as the ascent of Mary. He says that, Mary does not ascend to heaven but to the strength of her anticipation. He calls it the reconstruction of the body of the real and glorious body of the Virgin Mary in the heavens.
References
Taylor, M. R. (2008). The Dalí renaissance: New perspectives on his life and art after 1940. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art.
