The artwork titled “Paranoiac Woman-Horse (Invisible Sleeping Woman, Lion, Horse)” is a creation of the renowned surrealist artist Salvador Dali, completed in 1930. It is an oil painting on canvas that measures 50.2 by 65.2 centimeters and falls under the genre of symbolic painting. The artwork exemplifies the Surrealist movement and is currently housed at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, France.
In the artwork, Salvador Dali presents a complex and multi-layered scene that plays with optical illusion and the subconscious mind, which are hallmarks of Surrealism. At first glance, one might discern a barren landscape under a pale sky. Central to the composition is what appears to be a sleeping figure, with blankets draped over them, emphasizing a dreamlike quality consistent with Dali’s fascination for the dream state and unconscious imagery. The surroundings of the figure are infused with disjointed and metamorphic forms that give the appearance of different animals including a horse and lion, which stem from the painting’s title. These forms, along with the presence of stark shadows and ambiguous structures, create a sense of unease, suggesting the unsettling nature of dreams and paranoia. The juxtapositions and fusions of objects and living forms resonate with the Surrealist interest in revealing the hidden depths of the psyche through unexpected and often bewildering visual narratives.