The Face of War

Painted in 1940, this haunting work came straight from one of the darkest moments in modern history. Salvador Dalí had just fled the chaos of the Spanish Civil War and was watching the Second World War tear across Europe. His response was this withered, sunbaked face floating in an empty desert. Look closely at the eyes and mouth, and you will find skulls. Inside each of those skulls sit more skulls, and inside those even more, an endless chain of death that seems to go on forever. It is Dalí's way of showing how war breeds nothing but more war, generation after generation.

The image belongs to the Surrealist movement, which Dalí helped make famous with his dreamlike scenes and uneasy symbols. Here he traded the playful melting clocks of his earlier work for something far grimmer. The face twists in pain, surrounded by biting serpents, and the dry barren land around it offers no comfort or escape. There is a small personal touch hidden in the bottom right corner, where you can spot the imprint of a hand. That handprint is believed to be Dalí's own, a quiet signature on a painting born of fear and exile as he prepared to leave Europe behind for America.