Impressions of Africa is a misleading title as Dalí never visited the continent; the title is taken from a play by Raymond Roussel, who was greatly admired for his double meanings ? the literal equivalent of Dalí's double visual images. In the background, there are groups of figures clustered together; several are double images or visual illusions. Gala's face is the most dominant image; she appears ghostly, her eyes formed by the dark arches of the building behind her. In the foreground of the painting is Dalí, one hand reaching out toward the viewer; he has used a foreshortening technique here so that his arm appears almost in 3D. He was greatly interested in techniques that enabled him to create a feeling of space, distance, and depth. During 1938, Dalí was traveling in Italy, ostensibly to study the great Italian artists' techniques. His face is only partially visible and it is in shadow so that the one staring eye that we can see appears more distinct. Dalí wanted to give an i
