Illustration for Dali's book "Les Metamorphoses Erotiques" (The Erotic Metamorphoses), published in 1969. This was one of the great achievements of Dalinian phantasmagoria and of his application of the paranoiac-critical method to erotica.

Illustration for Dali's book "Les Metamorphoses Erotiques" (The Erotic Metamorphoses), published in 1969. This was one of the great achievements of Dalinian phantasmagoria and of his application of the paranoiac-critical method to erotica.

Illustration for Dali's book "Les Metamorphoses Erotiques" (The Erotic Metamorphoses), published in 1969. This was one of the great achievements of Dalinian phantasmagoria and of his application of the paranoiac-critical method to erotica.

Dalí developed a new technique using paper scorched and smoked with a candle.

    The Angel of Alchemy was painted using gouache and gold paint on paper, in 1974. The body of the angel is formed by a dark splash of paint, using the same technique as the painting Le Char d'Or (1971). Dalí claimed that he first used this technique of splashing paint while at the Madrid Academy of Arts. He boasted that he could win an award without putting his brush to the canvas, splashed paint at his canvas, and did indeed win the award.
    The use of gold paint explains the title of the piece; alchemists were obsessed with the idea of making gold. The gold paint appears to be haphazardly splashed on to the paper, although in a circular motion.
    In The Angel of Alchemy, the angel is only roughly implied in contrast to the more realistic depiction in the painting Rome (1949). A tiny head was added to the top of the body, and ink lines have been drawn into denote the angel's wings; these additions ensure that the viewer sees an angel. With a contradiction typical of Dalí, the head of the angel is actually a skull, normally the symbol of death and evil.

    Dalí painted The Phoenix in 1974 in a variety of mediums. The tale of the phoenix is one of transformation and resurrection, both themes that he was fascinated by. An earlier drawing called Metamorphose also dealt with the theme of transformation. In The Phoenix the theme of transformation is accentuated by the opening on the woman's stomach that shows a naked young man inside her.
    Dalí has painted the phoenix as if in flames. To create the impression of flames licking up at the body of the phoenix, the intense red and yellow paints were splashed on to the paper, which was then turned upside down so the paint was allowed to spill down the body of the phoenix. The phoenix has the body of a woman while the head is a picture of a real bird's head, set against a wooden frame. The neck of the bird is joined to the body of the woman beneath the end of this picture, to give the impression that the woman has put her head behind the frame. The red color on the bird's neck continues down the painting to become a tongue-like form that glistens against the woman's neck.