SALVADOR DALI'S SYMBOLISM

Melting clocks
The famous melting clocks represent the omnipresence of time, and identify its mastery over human beings. The inspiration for this concept came from a dream of runny Camembert one hot august afternoon. These symbols represent a metaphysical image of time devouring itself and everything else.

Crutches
The crutch is one of Dali’s most important images and features in many of his works. It is first and foremost a symbol of reality and an anchor in the ground of the real world, providing spiritual and physical support for inadequacy in life. The crutch is also the symbol of tradition, upholding essential human values.

Drawers
The drawers arise from their Freudian explanation as a representation of the concealed sexuality of women. Dali portrays many of the drawers to be slightly ajar, indicating that their secrets are known and no longer to be feared.

Elephants
Dali’s elephants are usually depicted with long, multi-jointed, almost invisible legs of desire, and carrying objects on their backs, which are also full of symbolism. These elephants represent the future and are also a symbol of strength. They are often shown carrying obelisks, which are symbols of power and domination, and not without phallic overtones. The weight supported by the animals spindly legs shows weightlessness, only made more significant by the burden on their backs.

Snails
The snail occupies an important place in the Dalinian universe as it is intimately linked to a significant event in Dali’s life – his meeting with Sigmund Freud. As Dali believed that nothing occurred to him simply by accident, he was captivated when he saw a snail on a bicycle outside Freud’s house. He connected the snail with a human head, more particularly Freud’s head. As with the egg and lobster, the hard shells and soft interiors of snails also fascinated Dali, and their geometry of their curves enchanted him.

Eggs
The egg is another favourite Dalinian motif, given the duality of its hard exterior and soft interior. Dali links the egg to pre-natal images and the intra-uterine universe, and thus it is a symbol of both hope and love.

Ants
When Dali was five years old, he saw an insect that had been eaten by ants and of which nothing remained except the shell. The swarming ants in Dali’s pictures and sculptures are references to death and decay, and are reminders of human mortality and impermanence. They are also said to represent overwhelming sexual desire.

Grasshoppers
Dali had an irrational fear of grasshoppers, stemming from his childhood torment by other children, who often threw grasshoppers and other insects at him. When they appear in Dali’s work, grasshoppers are used as a symbol of destruction, waste and fear. Dali represents them with a fearful nature, as large and intimidating in comparison to the other figures, and they are often shown in the act of eating the main subject of the work.

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