The artwork titled “Barber Saddened by the Persistence of Good Weather (The Anguished Barber)” is an oil on canvas painting created by the eminent Surrealist artist Salvador Dali in 1934. Embodying the distinctive Surrealist movement, this work belongs to the figurative genre and currently resides within a private collection. Dali’s painting is a quintessential example of the peculiar and dream-like imagery that Surrealism embraces.
The artwork presents a scene that is immediately mysterious and disorienting. The foreground showcases a figure in a vivid yellow garment, peeking around a wall with a look of apparent distress or contemplation on their face. This character’s gesture of reaching outwards with one hand suggests a bid for interaction or a plea for understanding. Behind this figure, the landscape unfolds as an expansive view with a clear, blue sky, broken only by sparse clouds that embody a peculiar solidity and form reminiscent of plumes of smoke or sculpted shapes. Another figure stands further back, holding an object aloft, which may add to the narrative’s abstract quality. Both figures are anchored in a barren, undetailed setting that is characteristic of Dali’s works, where the play on light, shadow, and color creates a stark yet surrealist environment. Overall, the artwork illustrates a classic Dali juxtaposition of the familiar with the surreal, instilling the canvas with a haunting sense of emotion and enigma.
