Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man

The Geopolitical Child Watching the Birth of a New Man was painted by Salvador Dali in 1943 and exhibited at the Mark Nodeler Gallery in New York the same year. This piece by Dali, thematically and stylistically very close to the "Poetry of America" written at the same time, is another talented eulogy of the artist to the glory of the United States of America that sheltered him.

Unlike the painting "The Evening Spider", created three years earlier, which reflected the deep pessimism of Salvador Dali regarding the world events of that time, "Geopolitical Child" is a much more optimistic thing, which was undoubtedly facilitated by the enchanting success of the artist in the United States.

Of great interest is a note by Dali himself, in which he lists the "keywords" for this painting: "Parachute, Renaissance, dome, placenta, protection, Catholicism, egg, biological ellipse, Earth change.

Geography grows into history, defining its course. "These notes explain a lot, including the name: geopolitics appeared at that time quite recently and as a science, while it was in its childhood state.

The Renaissance figure in the lower right corner of the picture is an allegory of the Old World, once capable of great accomplishments, but obviously unaware of the glorious past, living out its last days. The haggard appearance of the character eloquently testifies to this.

It is characteristic that Dali perceives the entire civilization of the Old World as a rather biological process: every living creature is born, grows, enters the golden age of power and prosperity, and then inevitably grows old and dies.

But don't be upset! - the optimist Salvador Dali assures us. This is a completely natural process - especially since in another hemisphere, in an amazing country called the United States, a New Man was conceived, matured and is about to be born. New Man, New Civilization, New World Order.

Moreover, this New Civilization will replace the old one far from being a baby, as it should be, like a newborn - no! It will appear in the form of a powerful athlete, who will be impossible to resist, because it will come into this world to reign and rule, establishing her laws everywhere!

Well, how can you, tell me, once again declare that in his best works Salvador Dali demonstrated a real prophetic gift !? After all, this is exactly what happened - who can say that the United States of America does not command a parade called "Modern Civilization" today?

In order to prove Dali's "prophetic" abilities, let us give a simple and obvious example: in 1943, Dali wrote his "Geopolitical Child", and on July 22, 1944, the well-known Bretton Woods conference of the United Nations, and the so-called IMF Charter was developed. And what is the International Monetary Fund, and its role in geopolitics - I think no one needs to explain.

As for the dome, beautifully painted by Dali - someone, of course, will say that together with the sheet under the egg, symbolizing new life, the dome forms a kind of shell flap, inside which the pearl of the Earth rests ...

Yes, it may very well be, but anyone who had to go to Catholic churches, and not simple churches, but basilicas, immediately recognizes in the dome a stylized umbraculum - an attribute of the Pope, that is, Catholicism.

Again, Dali's note at the beginning of this article contains both the "dome" and the word "Catholicism". Dali, thus, makes us understand that the New Man, carrying with him the New World Order, must remain under the wing of Catalocism - from the point of view of Salvador Dali, of course.

By the way, the pose of the New Man, about to hatch from an egg, was borrowed by Salvador Dali from the painting Isabella (1849) by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, while the figures in the depths of the canvas on the left are taken from Raphael's painting The Betrothal of the Virgin Mary. ... Dali knew the classics of world painting very well - which, too, could be rightfully proud of. (Read the original text in Russian)