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Lot Essay
A mesh of elongated flesh fills Femmes aux boîtes de sardines, painted in 1937. Faintly recalling the appearance of some of de Chirico's paintings, this picture is filled with enigmatic sensuality and with a deep and surreal strangeness that is wholly Domínguez'. The elegant, statuesque, stretched bodies of the women, which seem in parts to blend into each other, are punctured and adorned by the coiled-back metal of sardine-can lids. This incongruous feature is a recurring motif within Domínguez' work, sometimes appearing in objets surréalistes, in landscapes as in Personajes Surrealistas or, as here, on human bodies. In one sense, this is a metaphor for the Surreal vision, as Domínguez peels back the veil that obscures a true understanding of the world. He is revealing a hidden, fundamental dimension that lurks beneath our own, calling for the scales to fall from our eyes. The hidden properties and forces of the universe are being exposed while the artifice, all that we take for granted, is being rent asunder.
At the same time, the image in this picture is disturbing, a result of Domínguez' idiosyncratic imagery, which manages to blend desire, eroticism, appetite, sex and violence all at once. The flesh of the women, which appears to have been formed organically through a process of automatic creation and then associative honing of the given image, has been depicted with a sweeping sensuality. These imposing women appear timeless, like striding Amazons, yet are clearly presented in a sexualised context. Are the Femmes aux boîtes de sardines delicacies prone to our enjoyment and indulgence? Are they objectified, demeaned and commercialised? The ambiguity of their construction and of the process of unpeeling combine to create a striking image that reflects both on Domínguez' personality and on the more fundamental powers that drive the world and our interaction with it.
At the same time, the image in this picture is disturbing, a result of Domínguez' idiosyncratic imagery, which manages to blend desire, eroticism, appetite, sex and violence all at once. The flesh of the women, which appears to have been formed organically through a process of automatic creation and then associative honing of the given image, has been depicted with a sweeping sensuality. These imposing women appear timeless, like striding Amazons, yet are clearly presented in a sexualised context. Are the Femmes aux boîtes de sardines delicacies prone to our enjoyment and indulgence? Are they objectified, demeaned and commercialised? The ambiguity of their construction and of the process of unpeeling combine to create a striking image that reflects both on Domínguez' personality and on the more fundamental powers that drive the world and our interaction with it.