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Mermory of the Child-Woman

Artwork Details

Title
Memory of the Child-Woman
Other Title
L'homme fleur

Maker
Salvador Dalí
Date Made
c.1931
Materials
Oil and collage on canvas
Dimensions
Image: 39 in x 47 1/4 in
Accession ID Number
2000.11
Credit Line
Collection of The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, FL (USA); Gift of A. Reynolds & Eleanor Morse 2000.11
Location
ON VIEW
Copyright
In the USA ©Salvador Dalí Museum, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL 2023 / Worldwide rights ©Salvador Dalí. Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí (Artists Rights Society), 2023.
IMAGE

Supplemental material

Description

This canvas, which presents a tantalizing glimpse of Dalí’s homeland, is an Oedipal meditation about Dalí's complicated life resulting from his relationship with Gala. In 1932, Dalí was estranged from his father because Gala had become his mistress. The rounded cavities on the right-hand side of the horseshoe-shaped form contain notes referring to the legend of William Tell. Dalí reinterprets the William Tell story as an Oedipal myth about the father’s desire to persecute his son, reflecting Dalí’s own feelings about his relationship with his father.

The bestial, hermaphroditic figure presiding in the center of the canvas is ambiguous. Although it may symbolize the cannibalizing potential of the father, it may also suggest the dangerously intense union Dalí felt with Gala. In another cavity, Dalí has written repeatedly "Ma mere, ma mere," suggesting a longing for his deceased mother. The roses symbolize female sexuality, while the key is a phallic symbol as well as a symbol representing the unlocking of the mind.

Exhibition History:
1931, Paris, Pierre Colle Gallery, "Exposition Salvador Dali"
1933, Barcelona, Galerie d'Art Catalonia, "Salvador Dalí a Galeria d'Art Catalònia"
1939, Sidney, David Jones's Art Gallery, “Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art”
1939, Adelaide, National Art Gallery of South Australia, “Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art”
1939, Melbourne, Lower Town Hall, “Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art”
1940, Sydney, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, [Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art]
1940, Sydney, National Gallery of New South Wales, “Exhibition of Continental Art”
1943, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, [Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art]
1950, New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, “Challenge and defy : extreme examples by XX century artists, French and American”
1965, New York, Gallery of Modern Art, “Salvador Dalí, 1910-1965”
1997, Dallas, The Meadows Museum, "Memory of the Child-Woman"
1997, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art, "Treasures from the Salvador Dalí Museum"
1998, Liverpool, Tate Gallery, “Dali: A Mythology”
1999, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, "Dali Exhibition 1999"
1999, Shinjuku(Tokyo), Mitsukoshi Museum of Art, "Dali Exhibition 1999"
2002, Barcelona, Musee Picasso, “Paris-Barcelona”
2001, Paris, Galeries Nationales de Grand Palais, “Paris-Barcelona”
2006, Tokyo, Ueno Royal Museum, “Dalí Centennial Retrospective”
2007, Osaka, Suntory Museum, "Dalí Multifaceted : Centenary Exhibition"
2007, Nagoya, Nagoya City Art Museum, "Dalí Multifaceted : Centenary Exhibition"
2007, Sapporo, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, "Dalí Multifaceted : Centenary Exhibition"
2009, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, "Salvador Dalí : Liquid Desire"
2018, St. Petersburg, The Dalí Museum, "Magritte and Dalí"
2019, Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, "Magritte and Dalí"
2022, Saint Louis, Saint Louis Art Museum

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