DETAILS
Year :conceived in 1968, first cast in 1984
Height: 55,5 cm
Material: bronze
Technique: lost wax process
Edition Size: 350+35 EA
Patina: green
Maquette: original gouache, ʺMan with Butterflyʺ, 1968
References Descharnes: Dalí: The Hard and the Soft, Sculptures & Objects. Eccart, 2004. pg. 252 ref. 648
DESCRIPTION
This image originates from Dalí’s famous Tarot series, which was created specifically for his wife and muse Gala, who nurtured Dalí’s interest in mysticism. The image, chosen to depict the “Devil” card, illustrates a hermaphrodite figure, falling towards the unknown, holding aloft a butterfly.
Dalí’s symbolism we see here is the butterfly. The butterfly represents metamorphosis and transformation, themes that particularly interested Dalí, together with immortality and incarnation.
The sculpture Man with Butterfly leaves the banality of the everyday grounded world in a celebration of life force, in which the man and the butterfly symbolize the duality of body and spirit.