Le pêcher original d’Adam et Ève 1964

Editor: So this watercolour painting is Salvador Dalí's "Le pécher original d’Adam et Ève", from 1964. It definitely has this dreamlike, hazy quality that makes you feel like you're peering into a forgotten memory. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the enduring power of symbols. Note how Dalí abstracts the figures of Adam and Eve, reducing them to suggestive forms nestled within a verdant, almost primordial landscape. This evokes the dawn of human consciousness. Editor: So, even in this hazy style, it’s about the story we all know? Curator: Exactly. Think of the Christian narrative of innocence and expulsion. But Dalí isn't merely illustrating scripture. He’s tapping into the collective unconscious, where archetypes reside. That shadowy tree, looming over them? It's the tree of knowledge, but also perhaps the Freudian shadow, that part of ourselves we struggle to acknowledge. What feeling do you get from the watercolor bleeds? Editor: Melancholy. Like something beautiful is dissolving. Curator: Precisely! That disintegration is part of Dalí's surrealist project, dismantling fixed realities. The memory of paradise is always fading, always just beyond our grasp. That tension between clarity and dissolution is key. Editor: So it's not just about a literal interpretation of the Bible story but how the emotions behind the story have stayed with us through the ages. Curator: Precisely. It's about how images resonate, triggering associations layered through centuries of art and cultural memory. Dalí makes us question if this event happened and what is our place now, several centuries after. Editor: That makes the whole painting so much richer. Thanks for showing me that! Curator: It was a pleasure!