Soft watches, ants, or drawers are part of a visual language that makes the work of Salvador Dalí recognizable almost immediately. The artist turned time and again to everyday objects, animals, and organic forms to construct images related to dreams, desire, memory, and the subconscious—fundamental themes of surrealism.
Table of contents
What you will learn in this article
- Why the soft watches became one of Dalí's greatest icons.
- What relationship ants have with decomposition and decay.
- How he transformed animals and everyday objects into recurring symbols of his surrealist universe.
- What role Freud and psychoanalysis played in his imagery.
Reading time: 4 minutes
1.Dalí's soft watches
Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory, 1931. Oil on canvas, 24 × 33 cm. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, United States.
In The Persistence of Memory (1931), the watches lose their rigidity and appear to melt, becoming one of the most recognizable images by Salvador Dalí. The work alters our habitual perception of time and transforms an everyday object into something strange and unstable.
Salvador Dalí, Téléphone mou, 1968. Drypoint and aquatint on paper, 32 × 45 cm. Edition of 75 copies, signed and numbered by hand. Work available in our ArtShop.
This transformation of recognizable objects continued for decades. In Téléphone mou (1968), the receiver becomes soft and elongated, revisiting a motif—the telephone—that Dalí had already incorporated into his surrealist imagery during the thirties.
2.The ants
Salvador Dalí, The Great Masturbator, 1929. Oil on canvas, 110 × 150 cm. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain.
Ants have appeared recurrently in the work of Salvador Dalí since the late 1920s. In The Great Masturbator (1929), for example, they are associated with an iconography linked to desire, fear, and putrefaction. This motif also appears in other works from the same year, such as The Lugubrious Game (1929) and Accommodations of Desire (1929), establishing itself as one of the characteristic symbols of his surrealist universe.
If you would like to delve deeper into the movement to which Dalí belonged, you can also read our article: Surrealism: what it is, characteristics, and 8 curiosities you should know.
3.The eggs
The egg is another recurring element in Dalí's visual universe. Although Dalinian symbols change meaning depending on the work and the context in which they appear, the egg can be associated with ideas of birth, transformation, and life, especially when integrated into scenes where the body and organic forms are in the process of change.
4.The crutches
Dalí frequently resorted to the crutch as a support element for bodies and forms that appear incapable of holding themselves up. The image introduces a tension very characteristic of his work: structures that are apparently firm but nevertheless need external support to remain upright.
This ability to recognize how an artist builds their own vocabulary becomes especially interesting when visiting exhibitions, fairs, and studios with prior context. At The Club by ArteGlobaL, those meetings and visits are part of a broader experience aimed at better understanding the artists, the market, and the decisions behind a collection.
5.The elephants
Salvador Dalí, The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1946. Oil on canvas, 89.5 × 119.5 cm. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.
Dalí's elephants are particularly recognizable for their extraordinarily long, thin legs. In The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946), several advance on impossibly stylized legs while carrying structures and figures on their backs.
Dalí thus turns an animal associated with weight and solidity into a fragile and improbable presence, following the visual logic of surrealism.
6.The drawers
In the case of the drawers, the relationship with the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud is especially clear. Dalí incorporated them—open or partially open—into the human body as a symbolic representation of the unconscious and of that which remains hidden and can be revealed. The body thus becomes a kind of space filled with compartments, secrets, and desires.
This image reflects the influence of Freudian theories on Dalí's surrealist universe, especially in his exploration of dreams, repressed desires, and the deepest aspects of the human mind.
7.The snails
Salvador Dalí, The Snail and the Angel, 1977. Bronze sculpture using the lost-wax casting method, 44 cm high. First casting in 1984.
The figure of the snail also holds a curious connection to Sigmund Freud. When Dalí met the neurologist in London in 1938, he made several drawings of his face and established a surprising association between the shape of his skull and that of a snail, a comparison he later included in his autobiography.
The anecdote well summarizes Dalí's fascination with unexpected associations, organic forms, and the ability to transform recognizable elements into images charged with new interpretations—a constant within his surrealist universe.
Precisely because of that capacity to provoke associations, awaken curiosity, and open up different interpretations, surrealism can be especially interesting in professional spaces as well. A work of art can become a meeting point and add a cultural dimension to a work environment. Our art consulting for companies helps build collections tailored to the identity, spaces, and needs of each organization.
If you are thinking about starting or expanding your collection, you can schedule an initial conversation with one of our expert advisors to share your interests and assess which types of works might best fit your goals and budget. At ArteGlobaL, with more than 20 years of experience in independent art consulting, we provide an expert perspective, attentive to the quality, provenance, and relevance of each work.
Do you have any questions?
We will be happy to assist you.
