The Collection

Dalí i Domènech, Salvador

Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops in Equilibrium upon Her Shoulder

Date
c. 1934
Technique
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
6,8 x 8,8 cm
Location
Dalí Theatre-Museum

In reference to this fantastic and detailed portrait, Dalí tells us in The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí: "As soon as we had got settled in Portlligat I painted a portrait of Gala with a pair of raw chops poised on her shoulder. The meaning of this, as I later learned, was that instead of eating her, I had decided to eat a pair of raw chops instead. The chops were in effect the expiatory victims of abortive sacrifice - like Abraham's ram, and William Tell's apple. (...) My edible, intestinal and digestive representations at this period assumed an increasingly insistent character. I wanted to eat everything, and I planned the building of a large table made entirely of hard-boiled egg so that it could be eaten".

Salvador Dalí, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí, Dial Press, New York, 1942, p. 319.

© Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2014.

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  • Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops in Equilibrium upon Her Shoulder

    Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops in Equilibrium upon Her Shoulder