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Lucky Number 85?
The Lucky Number of Dalí is perhaps one of the most intriguing works ever by the surrealist master Salvador Dalí. Its red and yellow splashes reminiscent of headlights center the viewer’s eyes. It is a hypnotic work of art. But probably the most interesting thing about Lucky Number is that it doesn’t look like a Dalí at all, in fact it looks anti-Dalí.
Perhaps Dalí greatest artistic influences are the classics, Vermeer, Velasquez, Rembrandt, etc. Dalí revered these individuals. He thought of himself as a master painter. Technique was perhaps the most important thing for Dalí. He felt the only way to truly translate what is happening in the mind is to have the skills capable of showing it on the canvas. The Lucky Number of Dalí is the complete opposite of this. It does not require any skill other than being able to throw paint. It is a random work of art. The randomness can be seen as luck. The works itself is lucky in the sense that the paint was “lucky” to get on the canvas. But, in one way it is completely Dalí. There is a structure to the randomness.
We can read this work as saying that this work of art, the “anti-Dalí” method is killing the traditional Dalí method. Randomness trumps structure. It may also be telling of a prophecy Dalí had. The number scattered on the work is “85”. If Dalí had lived 4 more months he would have been 85 at the moment of his death in 1989. For some it might have looked like Dalí was trying to predict his death, guessing in would come in the 1980s, when he’d be in his 80s. If this is true then he was using this random style of art as a metaphor for his death. This erratic art style brings the death of the traditional art style. Death is random, and her Dalí tries to predict it. Ultimately even Dalí knows he will fail at predicting his death, he knows it is completely up to his luck. From this perspective it looks like Dalí is at the same time entertaining and accepting his death. What do you think?
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