The artwork titled “Apparition of My Cousin Carolinetta on the Beach at Rosas” is a creation of the renowned Surrealist artist Salvador Dali, dating back to 1934. This piece embodies the Surrealist movement through its dreamlike and somewhat disconcerting representation. As a landscape, the piece combines elements of the natural world with the peculiar and fantastical, a hallmark of Dali’s oeuvre.
The artwork presents a stark, expansive beach scene under a vast sky that transitions from a deep blue to green and pale yellow hues. Dominating the sky is a large, ambiguous form that seems to be a cloud, amalgamating human facial features within its nebulous shape. This formation appears to gaze downwards towards the landscape below.
Prominently, a dark, slender, upright structure akin to a shadow or a figure stands isolated on the golden sands. This object conveys a sense of verticality and contrast against the horizontal lines of sea and land. To the right, there is a faint, ghostlike apparition of a woman who appears almost weightless, her form blending ethereally with the landscape as she extends one arm outwards.
In the foreground, a small incongruous group of lion cubs play, adding a layer of the surreal as their presence is unexpected in such a setting. A solitary, rounded hut with a reddish roof is situated near the sea line, providing a touch of mundane reality amidst the fantastical elements. The horizon is defined by a thin strip of land, but it is the enigmatic figures and objects that command the viewer’s attention, challenging the perception of reality and illusion in this Surrealist landscape.
