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Dalí's Metamorphosis of Narcissus Dalí’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus – a Break with the Classical Tradition or Ovid’s Story Retold in an Ingenious Way? La Metamorfosis de Narciso de Dalí, ¿una ruptura con la tradición clásica o una reinterpretación ingeniosa del relato de Ovidio? Germ, Martin* Fecha de terminación del trabajo: mayo de 2012 Fecha de aceptación por la revista: diciembre de 2012 ABSTRACT The article proposes a reconsideration of the Metamorphosis of Narcissus by Salvador Dalí which focuses on the issue of the relationship between Dalí’s treatment of the theme and the myth of Narcissus as depicted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Although at first glance, the revolutionary surrealist painting owes little to the story of the beautiful Boeotian youth as presented by Ovid, the iconographical analysis nevertheless reveals Dalí’s profound interest in Metamorphoses. Using the paranoiac-critical method Dalí creates an original visual interpretation of metamorphosis based on Ovid’s description of Narcissus’ death with details that are lacking in other classical (or later) sources. Keywords: Painters; surrealist painting; iconography; psycoanalisys Identifiers: Dalí, Salvador; Metamorphosis of Narcissus Period: 20th century RESUMEN El artículo propone una revisión de la Metamorfosis de Narciso de Salvador Dalí a partir de la relación entre el mito de Narciso que se narra en las Metamorfosis de Ovidio y el tratamiento que el autor hace del tema. Aunque a primera vista, esta revolucionaria pintura surrealista debe poco al relato ovidiano sobre el bello joven de Beocia, su análisis iconográfico revela el profundo interés de Dalí por esta obra literaria. Utilizando el método paranoico-crítico, Dalí crea una original interpretación visual de la metamorfosis en base a la descripción que Ovidio hace de la muerte de Narciso, con detalles ausentes en otras fuentes clásicas o posteriores. Palabras clave: Pintores; Pintura surrealista; Iconografía; Teoría psicoanalítica Identificadores: Dalí, Salvador; Metamorfosis de Narciso Periodo: Siglo 20 * Art History Department, Faculty of Arts. University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). e-mail: [email protected] Cuad. Art. Gr., 43, 2012, 133-144. 133 GERM, MARTIN 1. Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcisus, 1937, oil on canvas, Tate Modern, London. Dalí’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937, Tate Modern) is one of the most famous paintings of the Catalan surrealist as well as the most original treatment of the Narcissus myth in the 20th century painting. Its originality aroused curiosity from the very moment it was created and the masterpiece still attracts attention of the scholars1. Although the scholarly approaches might differ considera- bly, the greater part of the studies concentrate on psychoanalytical interpretations. Among recent contributions one should mention the analysis of Haim Finkelstein in Salvador Dalí’s Art and Writing, an article by Milly Heyd Dalí’s ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissus’ Reconsidered, and above all the in-depth study by David Lomas in Narcissus Reflected2. The extravagant combination of the rich iconographic tradition of the Narcissus myth in European art and the new surrealist approach, Dalí’s erudition, self-analysis, autoerotic as well as artistic ex- hibitionism, result in the intrigue of the painting, which remains enigmatic and eludes the attempts of any final or undisputable interpretation. Considering Dalí’s interest in psychoanalysis and espe- cially in the Freudian theory of narcissism, the psychoanalytic components in the iconography of Metamorphosis of Narcissus cannot be ignored and are indeed vital for its understanding. On the other hand it is clear that by concentrating on psychoanalytical approach only, one might fail to notice some other iconographic aspects that should not go by unmarked. 134 Cuad. Art. Gr., 43, 2012, 133-144. DALÍ’S METAMORPHOSIS OF NARCISSUS – A BREAK WITH THE CLASSICAL TRADITION One of them is the question of how Dalí’s painting relates to the Metamorphoses by Ovid as the main classical source of the Narcissus myth3. Strange as it might seem it has not yet been fully ex- plored and opinions of scholars differ considerably. The majority of the authors agree that Ovid’s story of the beautiful Boeotian youth represents an important inspiration for Dalí’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus. But they usually treat the issue as a fact without an effort to pursue further the ques- tion of Ovidian elements in the painting. Others imply that Dalí’s revolutionary treatment of the theme has little in common with Ovid’s poem nor with the traditional presentation of Narcissus in visual arts4. Consequently Ovid is (more often than not) mentioned in the context of Dalí’s diver- gences from the literary source: the authors are pointing out the differences between the modern surrealist visual interpretation and the classical myth as codified by the Roman poet. It is true that at first glance, Dalí’sMetamorphosis of Narcissus owes little to the story as narrated by Ovid. The fantastic barren landscape lit with strong light has nothing in common with the place as described in Metamorphoses: a hidden spot in the dark woods, the silver-clear fountain in the deep shadow of the trees, and the green grass which surrounds the fountain5. The pool in Dalí’s painting is far from the crystal silvery spring of fresh water but seems more like a part of a lake; its water is strangely still and sinister. The nymph Echo does not appear in the scene nor do other nymphs mentioned by Ovid. Narcissus is not depicted as a youth whose charm attracted both girls and boys – he is not a graceful ephebe of white slender limbs and rosy cheeks, as portrayed in Ovid’s verses. (As we cannot see his face we are actually unable to judge his beauty.) He also lacks the classical attributes of the bow and arrows etc. On the other hand, Dalí introduces several elements which seem to have nothing to do with the traditional iconography of Narcissus: the fos- sil hand with an egg in the foreground of the picture, the strange wolf-like hound tearing at some meat or rather a piece of carcass, the chessboard with a figure of a youth on the pedestal, a group of agitated women and men, etc. But one should not be discouraged by the first impression because the iconographical analysis nevertheless reveals Dalí’s profound interest in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. His concern with the clas- sical text is certainly not that of an illustrator nor does he enlist himself in a long line of artists who are re-telling the story and adopting the traditional iconography without any really signifi- cant changes6. In Metamorphosis of Narcissus Dalí actually recreates the myth according to his paranoiac-critical method and adopts it to his own narcissist character. He even expands it into his personal myth, thus producing a new iconography. His reference to Ovid is rarely direct – more often he creates a subtle reinterpretation of images and notions found in Metamorphoses. This might be the reason (at least in part) why the concordances between Dalí’s painting and Ovid’s poem were not fully recognized or were sometimes inadequately interpreted. Besides the main motive of the hero’s metamorphosis there are but few cases of immediate corres- pondences between Dalí’s painting and Ovid’s poem. One of them might be the group of men and women in the middle distance of the picture; the «heterosexual group» as Dalí’s calls it in his poem the Metamorphosis of Narcissus. In the poem which accompanies the painting and serves as a sort of commentary7, Dalí does not give a clear explanation of the group in relation to Narcissus. He Cuad. Art. Gr., 43, 2012, 133-144. 135 GERM, MARTIN describes it and names nationality or ethnic type of the participants but the only clue to its meaning in the context of the story can be found in the statement that the figures are in the poses «of preli- minary expectation» and that the group «conscientiously ponders over the threatening libidinous cataclysm»8. In the poem they are obviously waiting for the punishment of Narcissus to take place. David Lomas offers two possible explanations to the «heterosexual group». Because the group comprises a «veritable League of Nations» as Lomas puts it, it might – in the ominous situation of Europe in 1937 – be an allusion to political events. On the other hand the group can suggest the suitors, male and female, whose amorous designs Narcissus obstinately resisted9. Lomas takes the second possibility to be more plausible. In our opinion it is certainly so. There are namely no other indications in the painting that would allude to contemporary political situation. Narcissus’ story in Dalí’s reinterpretation clearly shows autobiographical elements, it is personalized in a quite modern sense of the word: the great surrealist painter openly asserts his narcissist character, he identifies with the mythic figure and even creates a new myth of Dalí-Narcissus. Dalí in theSecret Life of Salvador Dalí proudly speaks of his many frustrated admirers10. He is like Narcissus who was loved by many Greeks of both sexes. It is worth noting that Ovid is the only classical author who explicitly speaks of «many boys and girls» who fell in love with Narcissus11. He puts great emphasis on the fact that Narcissus was universally desired for his beauty. Not only boys and girls were his admirers but even semi-divine beings like nymphs adored the Boeotian youth. The most famous among them was Echo with her tragic fate but Ovid tells us that Narcissus scorned the other nymphs of rivers and mountains as well12. The universal appeal of Narcissus is one of the components of the myth that were very close to Dalí. Therefore the diversity of the heterosexual group with underlined internationality might well stand for Dalí’s international fame and popula- rity which he gained in the mid-1930s13.
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