Salvador Dali PREMONITION OF CIVIL WAR

It was painted as a response to the looming Spanish Civil War by the Master Surrealist; Salvador Dali. It rivals and is a foil to another artist’s statement on the same destructive force; Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. Dali’s miracle; “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans Premonition of Civil War” Is amazingly on point. Dali’s depiction of an entity/creature painfully and horrifically in the process of destroying itself is both alarming and seductive.

Dali’s creation is also in many ways cause for celebration. His colors are rich; his technique, his drafting skills are brilliant and the genius of his imagination is phenomenal. Rarely has any artist taken such an ugly truth as civil war and transformed that truth into something beautiful; something to study and treasure. Premonition of Civil War is a true masterpiece of priceless magnitude and monumental in stature.

In light of the recent election of Donald J. Trump this nation finds itself at tremendous odds. Protests that have taking place; largely in cities across the nation, demonstrate a bitterness and unparalleled divisiveness on many levels. Individuals are being attacked and bullied in schools while others walk out of their own schools in response and protest. This is a time of civil disobedience that I haven’t personally seen since the Nineteen Sixties. Actor Robert Di Nero said Trump’s election felt emotionally something like those he felt on "Nine Eleven," 2001. Decidedly one of the worst days in American History. I have to agree with Mr. Di Nero. Something of my own feelings of that time hauntingly returned to me.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. 

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                           Abraham Lincoln

                          

Donald Trump’s presidency will not destroy the union. It in all likely hoods will not lead to civil war. But he will be passionately opposed when wrong and equally acknowledged when right. The nation will vote again in four years, we will choose quite possibly Mr. Trump’s replacement. It is too our good fortune and credit that we have such a system of government. At present Donald Trump chooses and prepares his administration, the protests continue, we continue to look to great art for comfort and inspiration…life and creativity go on. We are very much a nation of one with many different minds and visions. We are a nation of people and ideas of which the best of each will ultimately endure.