Salvador Dali -Triumphant Elephant

Date: conceived in 1975, first cast in 1984
Material: Bronze
Technique: Lost wax process
Edition Size: 350 + 35 EA
Height: 53 cm / 20.86 in
Edition: Patina Green
Maquette: Original gouache, Triumphant Elephant, 1975

The elephant, Dalí's symbol of the future, is one of his favourite images — often depicted carrying objects on their backs. Dalí subverts the idea of the elephant as heavy and strong by giving it impossibly long, spindly legs: a pure Daliesque whimsy that juxtaposes immense weight with fragile joints. There is a sense of otherworldliness as Dalí's elephants defy the laws of nature, moving effortlessly, almost gracefully — their stilted limbs echoing the crutches that recur throughout his work.

The elephant was a recurring theme in Dalí's oeuvre, first appearing in his 1944 painting Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. The Triumphant Elephant is among the artist's most iconic and instantly recognizable images. Resting lightly on the pachyderm's back is an angel — a messenger of the subconscious that guides man through life in Dalinian psychology. The elephant raises its trunk triumphantly as the jubilant herald mirrors the action, trumpeting success and hope for the future.

Dalí's fascination with elephants was such that when Air India commissioned him to create a souvenir in 1967, he presented a porcelain ashtray — a swan that transformed into an elephant when turned upside down. In lieu of payment, the eccentric Spaniard asked for a baby elephant, which was duly flown from Bangalore to Geneva.

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