• drawing
• dimensions unknown
• private collection
The Joker is Dalí's rendition of the traditional subject of the joker, from within the constrained field of playing cards. Although Dalí has kept most aspects of the standard portrayal of the joker, he has added some of his Surrealistic trademarks to the drawing. Dalí would often include a repetitive Surrealist image, such as the crutch, in his commissioned works; their inclusion performed a visual reference to him, ensuring that the viewer understood this to be a work by Dalí. One of these repeated images is the figure of a medieval jester, or joker. They can often be seen in the background, such as in the 1949 painting, Rome.
The colors in the drawing are restricted to the bold, mainly primary colors that are usually seen in playing cards. The joker is standing in an impossible position, performing a handstand with his legs bending over his head, twisting back the wrong way. Out of his chest, a drawer appears with a crutch balanced inside it. The crutch supports the elongated skull, an image that Dalí included in a series of paintings. It is an image that obviously refers to mortality but becomes strangely sexual because of its elongated, phallic, appearance.