133 - Cyclopean Make-Up (Imaginations and Objects of the Future)

"Cyclopean Make-Up" is a lithograph and etching with collage created by Salvador Dalí for his series 'Imaginations and Objects of the Future' in 1975. From the edition of 600, the artwork is signed 'Dalí' lower right and annotated lower left. The image size is 27.37 x 20.75". The artwork ships framed and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Drawing on his scientific studies, Salvador Dalí sought to envision the future of both Earth and humankind in “Imaginations and Objects of the Future”, revealing his enduring fascination with invention, science, and the evolving human imagination. Rather than attempting literal prediction, Dalí approaches the future symbolically. Familiar motifs, distorted figures, floating objects, and precise architectural forms, are reconfigured to suggest transformation, innovation, and the instability of reality itself.

In 2004, the Dallas Museum of Art exhibited the portfolio from its permanent collection in celebration of Dalí’s 100th birthday. The museum described the series as a particularly compelling example of how Dalí’s imaginative world evolved as he entered both a more religious and a more scientific phase of his career. After 1960, Dalí became increasingly preoccupied with mortality, nuclear warfare, technological advancement, and his own legacy. Upon the portfolio’s release, art critic Alan Artner wrote in the “Chicago Tribune” that the series demonstrated Dalí’s renewed engagement with the Old Masters, particularly Leonardo da Vinci’s sketchbooks, speculating that Dalí sought to surpass even da Vinci’s inventions through the visionary devices imagined in these works.

The “Imaginations and Objects of the Future” series consists of ten lithographs, five of which have collage elements. “Cyclopean Makeup” is one of the works featuring collage. Arguably the most surrealist work in this series, the Dallas Museum of Art quoted Dalí when describing it:
The concept is founded on the eye of a Cyclops. Cybernetic models obtained on computers will replace the traditional structure. People will wear anaglyphic glasses. When they wear these orange and green glasses, and look at others, strange metamorphoses will occur. For example, a certain part of the body might become completely invisible. Or else, by looking through these glasses one will see women wearing doves or fishes instead of heads. This surrealist cybernetic makeup will open up the kingdom of the headless women. In my museum, I paint cyclopean images on the walls. If one looks at them with orange and green glasses, everything then takes on another dimension.