The artwork titled “Anthropomorphic Bread” was created by the renowned Surrealist artist Salvador Dali in 1932. This still life painting is an oil on canvas with dimensions of 24 x 33 cm. As a product of the Surrealism movement, the artwork is known for merging dreamlike elements with reality.
In this canvas, Salvador Dali presents a curious juxtaposition of ordinary objects imbued with human characteristics, hence the term ‘anthropomorphic’. The piece predominantly features a piece of bread which stands upright, wrapped in a cloth reminiscent of a classical drapery. The figure is set against a background that transitions from warm to cool tones, with a fiery red-orange hue giving way to a chilling blue, creating a visual contrast that accentuates the main subject.
Additional elements appear to float around the bread, adding to the surrealist atmosphere of the scene. The brushwork varies from smooth in the depiction of the bread’s texture and the cloth’s fabric to more rough and expressive in the background, highlighting Dali’s versatility in technique. This artwork employs various elements of the surreal to provoke contemplation and challenge perceptions of the mundane, typical of Dali’s enigmatic style.
