Salvador Dalí: Bronze Sculptures and Furniture

Whilst being mainly known for his paintings, the incredible Salvador Dalí is also the creator of many sculptures and furniture. In The Secret Life, one of his autobiographies, Dalí tells the story of creating his first sculpture. It was a modeling of the Venus de Milo, the image of which had decorated his crayon box as a child. He studied sculpture in the 1930s, but in a way that was quite innovative. Influenced by artists such as Marcel Duchamp, he was interested in the three-dimensionality of objects. However, like a true surrealist, his sculptures were purely symbolic, and had no practical use, such as his Retrospective Bust of a Woman. He also stated that “the surrealist object is created solely for its honor, and it exists only for the honor of the thought it contains."

Later, Dalí reverted back to more traditional sculptural methods and began to create his bronze statues. To make them, he started with soft wax to make a template, and then recreated it in bronze to create the final product. The aim was to translate Dalí's obsessions and his subconscious onto a solid, three-dimensional object. 

Dalí's sculptures are inspired by the most recognizable images and motifs from his paintings. In his sculptures we find melting clocks, flowers, angels, elephants, horses, mythological creatures, biblical figures and more. Bronze was also used to create furniture, such as chairs, lamps, door handles and faucets. Amongst the celebrated pieces Dalí created is the three-legged Leda armchair with feet in the shape of high heels, inspired by his painting Women with the head of roses. Find a bronze sculpture or piece of furniture for yourself from our expertly picked selection of Dalí artworks!