The Siesta and its Dream

In 1932, a moment in his vast career when he was heavily influenced by surrealism, Antonio Berni painted "La siesta y su sueño". The dazed and unsettling atmosphere in this dreamlike painting is akin to Berni’s complex compositions with objects like "La puerta abierta" [The Open Door], also from 1932. Centerstage in "La siesta y su sueño" are a car and parts of machines that, like menacing monsters, emerge from the sea or the ground. Against the appealing background of a picturesque building with tower reminiscent of the ones in the Estense Castle that de Chirico painted time and again are bits of industrial debris that seem to warn of the predatory and contradictory nature of modern life. The urban elements in most of Berni’s work from this period are largely references to picturesque and Italian-style architecture, sometimes alongside somber walls and brick constructions. In these mute scenes, mechanical parts suggestive of an industrial society are a disturbing presence. These images question both the idealized conception of the rationalist and productive city and symbols of technological progress.