The artwork “Landscape with Telephones on a Plate” was created by Salvador Dali in 1938. This oil on canvas piece measures 22 by 30 centimeters and is housed in a private collection. As a notable work from the Surrealism art movement, it presents a landscape theme that aligns with the movement’s penchant for juxtaposing unexpected elements to challenge the viewer’s conventional perceptions and evoke a dream-like atmosphere.
In “Landscape with Telephones on a Plate,” Dali offers a bleak, desolate landscape that stretches across the background, underlined by a darkened sky that seems to blend ominously with the earth. At the forefront of the artwork, a plate commands attention, isolated in its positioning. Upon this plate rests a peculiar subject—a collection of black telephones—whose presence in such a setting challenges reality and invites interpretation. The naturalism of the landscape contrasts starkly with the surreal element of the telephones, a hallmark of Dali’s technique to foster an uncanny sense of reality. Scattered around the barren foreground, disconnected from the plate, are what appear to be crumbled remnants, further emphasizing the sense of disconnection and abandonment that permeates the scene. The plate, with its golden hue, adds a touch of surreal opulence amidst the otherwise desolate and subdued color palette, bringing forward a sense of incongruity that is typical of Dali’s complex and thought-provoking compositions.
