“Accommodations of Desire” is a symbolic painting by Salvador Dali, created in 1929. This artwork combines the use of collage, oil, and board, measuring 22.5 x 35 cm. Exhibiting the hallmarks of the Surrealism art movement, Dali constructs a landscape of the subconscious.
The artwork features a series of stone-like entities, each encasing illustrations and symbols, floating against a dark, barren landscape that recedes into the horizon. At the center, a prominent figure with a disquieting juxtaposition of human and animal features holds court. Each object’s enclosure varies in content, from a fierce lion to soft, interior-like forms drenched in vivid reds and spectral paleness. Evident is Dali’s interest in Freudian psychoanalysis, reflected in the dream-like presentation and amalgamation of various symbols, which nod to the deeper layers of human desire and emotion.
The mysterious atmosphere is enhanced by the surrealist technique of placing incongruent elements together, provoking the viewer to question the relationship between them and seek out the latent meanings – an invitation into a world beyond rationality and conscious understanding.
