The Seven Sisters 1985

Here, we have Desmond Morris’s painting "The Seven Sisters," populated by the biomorphic beings that so characterized his surrealist vision. Born in 1928, Morris came of age during a period of immense social upheaval. In postwar Europe, surrealism offered a powerful visual language through which to explore the shifting terrain of identity and experience. Morris, who was also a zoologist, draws on his scientific background to create dreamlike compositions of hybrid creatures. In "The Seven Sisters," we see a cast of characters arranged across a lavender-tinged landscape. Are these figures feminine? Are they meant to represent a kind of sisterhood? The beauty of surrealism lies in its resistance to easy answers. The painting invites us to consider new ways of thinking about ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.