The Colossus of Rhodes (Dalí)
1954 painting by Salvador Dalí / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Colossus of Rhodes is a 1954 oil painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. It is one of a series of seven paintings he created for the 1956 film Seven Wonders of the World, each depicting one of the wonders. The work shows the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios. The painting was not used for the film and was donated to the Kunstmuseum Bern in 1981, where it remains.
The Colossus of Rhodes | |
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El Coloso de Rodas, Le Colosse de Rhodes | |
Artist | Salvador Dalí |
Year | 1954 (1954) |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 68.8 cm × 39 cm (27.1 in × 15.4 in) |
Location | Kunstmuseum Bern |
Accession | G 82.007 |
Painted two decades after Dalí's heyday with the surrealist movement, the painting epitomises his shift from the avant-garde to the mainstream. Pressured by financial concerns after his move to the United States in 1940, and influenced by his fascination with Hollywood, Dalí shifted focus away from his earlier exploration of the subconscious and perception, and towards historical and scientific themes.
Dalí's rendering was influenced by a 1953 paper by Herbert Maryon, a sculptor and conservator at the British Museum. Maryon proposed that the historical Colossus was hollow, formed from hammered bronze plates, and located alongside the harbour rather than astride it. He further suggested that it used a hanging drapery to give the statue a stable tripod base. These elements were all incorporated by Dalí.