Salvador Dali
After 50 Years of Surrealism: The Divine Back of Gala  

1974
drypoint and stencil color on paper
16 x 12 in.
1991.508
Gift of Herbert Stellner, Jr. '50

How does the name of such a big artist affect how we look at a piece? Does the history of such a famed artist and movement hang over us as we look? What is our relation/role in viewing it?
The very recognizable artist, Salvador Dali, features himself in full in this piece with reference to a movement he helped bring about and the book he wrote himself. This piece was done as a series of etchings, all titled After 50 Years of Surrealism, as an ode to the movement along with his style. This is the second of twelve etchings, describing years in his life since Surrealism began.
Dali had his own interpretations of Surrealism, such as a critical paranoia, that explored his subconscious fears and worries through his art. “The Divine Back of Gala” is a reference to his wife and muse Gala who he married then divorced a few decades later only to remarry until her death in ‘82. Dali makes clear his devotion to her as she is the subject of many of his paintings. Here we can interpret Dali as the skeletal figure reaching out to the back of Gala as she turns away from him.
Grace Marusek ‘19
Lasting Legacy 2019