The pursuit of Morality through Surrealism.

       

Art's purpose has changed in various cultures throughout history and has been scrutinised in order to unravel further insight into an artist's intent, beliefs and upbringing. This analysis has shown that art can evoke certain ideas. Take for example, the artists, Hieronymus Bosch and Salvador Dali. These two Surrealists, Bosch from the Middle Ages, and Dali, from the 1930's, display the promotion of morality through religious symbolism in their art. Hieronymus Bosch was a Flemish painter who lived in the Netherlands in the Duchy of Brabant.  Very little is known about Bosch's childhood, his parents, or the personal ideas behind his paintings, but art historians have formed many of their own opinions.  From immense research and painting analysis, experts today can determine to a certain extent why Hieronymus Bosch included certain ideas and elements in his paintings. With speculation on what is known of Bosch's life, one can come to the conclusion that events in his upbringing led him to have very clear opinions on religion (Belting 25). Bosch was a religious and in his young adulthood joined "The Brotherhood of our Lady", a Netherlandish church (Hieronymus). This church not only held services but made a point to carry out good deeds with donated money (Belting 35). Bosch contributed to the church by painting many of the walls and ceilings (Belting 67). Unfortunately, many of Bosch's paintings burned with the church during religious wars in the Netherlands (Robert 26).

    Historians have concluded that the "Brotherhood of our lady" fire inspired Bosch's paintings and intensified his perception of Hell (Robert 34). It has been suggested that Bosch also became involved in "Hermetic Practices", which was an ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy and astrology. (Robert 48). This has encouraged scholars to speculate that dark and demon based subjects, evil or supernatural elements in his paintings, could have been inspired by his intrigue in witchcraft (Robert 36). It is clear that Bosch had his own opinions on religion (Robert, 23).  One reason why Bosch depicts "holy" members of the church in hell, shown as pigs disguised as nuns, is because he is secretly addressing the fact that even though they take titles of holiness, they prove by their actions to be otherwise. Hieronymus Bosch strives to subtly convey that religion is pure, but with the authority of Popes and Cardinals, it is made corrupt. These pigs do not only serve as a mockery to the officials in the catholic church, but are also shown attempting to persuade a man into signing a papal wax sealed contract, implying their use of trickery (Robert, 46). Perhaps Hieronymus Bosch's secular opinions on the church were negative, being that the so-called "Holy members" of the church are found in "Hell" in Bosch's paintings.

    Similarly, it is thought that many traumatic events in Salvador Dali's upbringing altered who he was and how he expressed himself through surrealism.  Many of Dali's paintings which exhibit grotesque and disturbing images, originate from the punishment that he was exposed to in his childhood (Anderson 65). Salvador Dali was born on may 11th in Figueres, Spain. He aspired to apply to study in several schools in Madrid and later in the 1920's, traveled to Paris and met many famous artists such as Picasso, Magritte and Miro. Upon meeting such well accomplished artists and by observing their work and learning from them, the passion in Dali for surrealism flourished. Dali's father condemned him severely for his eccentricities, while his mother was loving and affable (Salvador). In school, Dali was known to spontaneously burst into fits of anger against other schoolmates (Anderson 13). For these acts of impudence, Dali would be severely punished by his father  (Anderson, 24). Not only did Dali's father loath his spontaneous nature and imprudent outbursts, but generally disliked his overall eccentricity. His father longed for a normal or decorous son who would honor his strict conduct and teaching.  On the contrary, Dali's mother was sweet, supportive, and somewhat eccentric in her own way.  The discrepancies between Dali's parents left him confused and troubled. It is thought that these discrepancies are shown in some of his works, one of many being The Ecumenical Council.  Some of Dali's pieces leave viewers to contemplate on what message the painting aims to evoke.  Perhaps the punishment from Dali's father which contrasted greatly to his mother caused irritation in his life. This frustration or flustered mindset might have encouraged Dali to create the abstruse and disturbing images in his art.  Paintings that regard this disturbing imbalance in his life is thought to be expressed through paintings such as The Face of War, The Burning Giraffe and Soft Construction with Boiled Beans.