DETAILS
Year :conceived and first cast in 1980
Height: 94 cm
Material: bronze
Technique: lost-wax
Edition Size: 350+35 EA
Patina: brown
Maquette:original plaster, ʺSpace Elephantʺ, 1980
References Descharnes: Dalí: The Hard and the Soft, Sculptures & Objects. Eccart, 2004. pg. 244 ref. 631
DESCRIPTION
The image of an elephant carrying an obelisk is portrayed in one of Dalí’s best-known paintings The Temptation of St Anthony (1946). Dalí’s elephants have exaggeratedly long legs which raise them up towards the sky. These thin, multi-jointed legs juxtapose with the heavy body of the elephant. The obelisk alludes to a tiring burden, yet the artist distorts reality making it weightless, an illusion of it almost floating above the saddle. The combination of these contradictory elements create a sense of disarray and metaphysical imbalance that can only exist in a dream-like world.The legs of the elephant originally had claw-like feet during the sculpture’s creation. Doubtful of this element, Beniamino Levi President of the Dalí Universe, approached Dalí to modify it. After initial resistance and with Gala’s support, the feet changed to horses hooves.
The image of an elephant carrying an obelisk is portrayed in one of Dalí’s best-known paintings The Temptation of St Anthony (1946). Dalí’s elephants have exaggeratedly long legs which raise them up towards the sky. These thin, multi-jointed legs juxtapose with the heavy body of the elephant. The obelisk alludes to a tiring burden, yet the artist distorts reality making it weightless, an illusion of it almost floating above the saddle. The combination of these contradictory elements create a sense of disarray and metaphysical imbalance that can only exist in a dream-like world.The legs of the elephant originally had claw-like feet during the sculpture’s creation. Doubtful of this element, Beniamino Levi President of the Dalí Universe, approached Dalí to modify it. After initial resistance and with Gala’s support, the feet changed to horses hooves.