“Rhinocerotic Gooseflesh” is a symbolic painting by Salvador Dali, created in 1956 using oil on canvas. Measuring 93 by 60 cm, this artwork is a notable example of the Surrealist movement, a genre that Dali is highly associated with and known to have significantly influenced with his dreamlike and bizarre imagery.
The artwork depicts the torso of a female figure, seemingly suspended above a landscape that is reminiscent of a desolate, sandy beach. The torso, which is severed at the waist and has no limbs or head, casts a delicate shadow on the gray surface below. This meticulously painted shadow, along with the precise rendering of the torso, suggests the presence of light emanating from the direction of the viewer. Below the floating torso is an open scallop shell, an element often associated with the birth of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty in classical mythology. The inclusion of the shell may hint at themes of birth, beauty, or transformation, all of which are recurrent in Dali’s oeuvre.
The backdrop of the artwork consists of a horizon line where the sea meets a pale sky, and a spot of turbulent cloud above the serene landscape adds a sense of tension to the otherwise placid scene. The choice of the environment, along with the isolated and fragmented figure, contributes to the surreal experience by juxtaposing the ordinary with the extraordinary, the serene with the uncanny. Each element within the composition is crafted with high precision, adding to the dreamlike quality that is characteristic of Dali’s work.
