Swans Reflecting Elephants

This is the painting Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937) by the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. It is a picture of numerous large swans sitting ontop of a pond, with some distorted trees in the background. The three large swans in the middle serve as the emphasis of the painting. The bold and curvy lines from the tree branches and swan necks also pop out and interestingly help form distinct reflections of elephants in the water. The warm orange colors of the rocks all around the sides of the water add a sense of calmness upon first glance, however, the black and cool colors of the elephant water reflections and knotty trees also sets up an ominous feeling. I think the two different feelings the colors set up contribute to the overall theme of the painting, which is contrast and polar opposites. These include the graceful swans vs. lumbering elephants, the vivacious landscapes vs. dead, cold trees, a cloudy sky to the left vs. a clear sky to the right, man vs. animal, etc.