THE DALI UNIVERSE COLLECTION

This important collection of Dalí’s most original and eclectic works contains over 500 original Dalí artworks, which span 50 years of the artist’s career. The permanent collection demonstrates the incredible creative versatility of this 20th Century Modern Master, with extensive collections including sculpture, surrealist objects, watercolours, collage, etchings, graphics, serigraphs, wood engravings, furniture, jewellery, glass and the monumental oil painting Spellbound.

Curated by a lifelong friend of Dalí, Beniamino Levi, the exhibition takes on a personal tone, reflecting the richly larger-than-life personality of the artist, and touching upon some of his greatest moments.

Sculptures
Boasting the largest exhibit of Dalí sculpture in the world, the Dalí Universe features classic and quirky pieces including Lobster Telephone, Profile of Time, Alice in Wonderland, and Buste de Femme Retrospectif, one of the defining pieces of 1930s surrealism. Dalí’s sculptures are rich with symbolism - a soft watch isn’t just a soft watch and a drawer isn’t just a drawer. Instead, these objects metamorphose into symbols open to countless explanations.

Profile of Time
The melting clock – perhaps the most recognised Dalínian symbol – stems from a dream of runny Camembert one hot August afternoon. Here the clock takes on a human profile as it drips over the branches, underlying man’s ambiguous relationship with time.

Woman Aflame
This spectacular sculpture of a woman arching skyward, the folds of her dress rippled with flames, embodies Dalí’s obsession with both fire and the female figure interspersed with drawers. Her back rests on a metaphoric crutch, an anchor in reality. The symbolism of the drawers arises from their Freudian interpretation as the concealed sexuality of women. They often appear slightly ajar in Dalí’s work, indicating that their secrets are known, and no longer to be feared.

Alice in Wonderland
Alice is one of Dalí’s favourite images. He was drawn to the innocence of this eternal child who re-emerges into reality unchanged by her surrealistic experience in the looking-glass world.

Space Elephant
Dalí first created the image of elephants carrying objects for his famous 1946 painting “The Temptation of St Anthony”. In this sculpture, he focuses on the temptation of power, as represented by the obelisk that stands on the Space Elephant’s back. The elephant is a distortion in space, its spindly legs contrasting the idea of weightlessness with structure.

Graphics, Watercolour & Collage
The exhibition presents several examples of graphics devoted to the major themes of literature, featuring rare etchings and lithographs from Romeo and Juliet, the Divine Comedy and the Bible, as well as series of famous original artworks representing the mystical Tarot cards.

Spellbound
Dalí’s affiliation with historic director Alfred Hitchcock came to fruition with the monumental Spellbound oil canvas that hangs from the gallery mezzanine, designed for Hitchcock’s 1945 psychological thriller of the same name.

Surrealist Furniture
The Dalí Universe features some examples of surreal furniture, such as chairs, lamps and tables designed by Dalí in the 1930s – including the famous red Mae West Lips sofa, inspired by the notorious Hollywood actress.

Glassworks, Jewellery & Decorative Gold Objects
The exhibition also includes a selection of jewellery and decorative gold objects, in addition to glass artworks in vibrant colours created by Dalí in the 1960s in collaboration with French crystal company Daum.

FOR ENQUIRIES about school group visits or to request a full education pack and booking form, please contact us on 020 7450 7617 or email us on groups@countyhallgallery.com.