The artwork titled “The Voyeur” is an early piece by the renowned artist Salvador Dali, created around 1921. It is rendered in gouache on cardboard and aligns with the Cubism and Expressionism art movements. The dimensions of the piece are 32 x 50 cm, classifying it as a genre painting. “The Voyeur” is housed at the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Spain.
The artwork presents a predominantly dark, nocturnal scene punctuated by flashes of vibrant color. Central to the composition is a reclining figure shrouded in deep blue, with its head and gaze directed towards the window, possibly evoking the voyeuristic title. The figure’s posture and positioning suggest an intent focus on something outside of the immediate environment, possibly within the illuminated windows across the dark expanse. The scene captures an interior, highlighted by a table with what appears to be a bottle and a cup, implying a personal setting where observation takes place away from the subject’s surroundings.
The windows portrayed in the work offer different vignettes with various figures, whose activities are rendered in bright yellows, oranges, and whites, standing out against the dark blue. These fragments create a sense of narrative and draw a stark contrast between the dark, private space of the observer and the illuminated, public domain being observed. Dali’s approach here indicates an early exploration of perspective and psychological themes that would become more pronounced in his later Surrealist works.
