French philosopher Gilles Deleuze has already recommended the splitting of the ‘sadomasochistic complex’ into two ‘singularities’ due to the differing artistic economies of Sade and Masoch. We might speak of these proclivities as the ‘drastic’ and the ‘pathetic’; demonstrative realism in Sade, romantic idealism in Masoch.

In this painting, the scene on the left represents masochism; the dancers on the right, sadism.

The ‘turning around’ from masochism to sadism is accomplished, according to Freud, by the intermediate phase of narcissism, represented in my painting as the armchair/searchlight. The decor of the ballet is by Dali, circa 1936.

Tim Schultz, 2026