Muse and Power

She is barely remembered these days but without her, he would probably not have flourished. If she is remembered at all, it is for having no friends, for having eyes that pierced, for collecting stuffed toys, for cooking her own rabbit, for spitting at people she did not like and for stubbing out cigarettes on their arms for good measure. Apparently, she gambled away huge sums of her husband's money and maintained a large number of young lovers until she was well into her eighties. 

And yet, this woman - born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova (aka Gala) - was the woman who inspired Salvador Dali like nothing else and nobody else could. He is reported to have said that he was able to love her "more than my mother, more than my father, more than Picasso, and even more than money." Gala was, therefore, not just his wife, she was his muse.

The muse, as I understand it, is the feminine part of the male artist, with which he must have intercourse if he is to create a new work This does not necessarily mean that the muse's role is restricted to sitting around long enough to be whisked off to bed before being depicted in oil paint. Gala was also agent, dealer and promoter and she left her wealthy family in Paris and, for a while, lived in a beach hut with no running water, no heat and no stove.  If she was his muse, it is likely that she was also his mother. After all, she abandoned her own child to take care of Dalí instead. 

So why do so many women allow themselves to become a muse? What good is there in living to inspire somebody else? Or have I completely misunderstood? Does being a muse revolve around the concept of power? Is being a muse an act of creation? This is an important question if creation is the most formidable act of power. If women are muses, then men are not their artists, but their audience.

Comments

[Garden Decor]

Great combination of Uncle's Danger Eyes and Aunt Cute Smile.