DESCRIPTION Lady Godiva was an English noblewoman from the eleventh century, who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry on horseback, to oppose taxation laws of the time, imposed by her husband the Earl of Mercia, becoming a feminine legend. In this sublime sculpture, Dalí adds a surreal touch, adorning Lady Godiva’s body with four fluttering butterflies, symbols often used in his artwork. Symbols of the soul and of change, butterflies insinuate rebirth, infinite transformations, metamorphosis, and natural beauty. The Dalínian Lady Godiva with Butterflies does not hide beneath her abundant hair, but proudly announces her femininity. Her whole figure seems to radiate light and luminescence, the trumpet a symbol of victory pointing to the heavens and the future.

DESCRIPTION The elephant, Dalí’s symbol of the future, is one of his favourite images, often typically depicted carrying objects on their backs. Dalí subverts the idea of the elephant being heavy and strong, by giving it impossibly long legs. It is an example of pure Daliesque whimsy, a fantastic image created by juxtaposing the immense weight with the fragility of the thin joints. There is a sense of otherworldliness as Dalí’s elephants defy the laws of nature moving effortlessly, almost gracefully. The figure resting lightly on the pachyderms back is an angel, an image which featured widely in Dalí’s oeuvre. In Dalinian psychology, the messenger represents the subconscious that guides man through life. The elephant raises his trunk triumphantly as the jubilant herald mirrors this action trumpeting success and hope for the future.  

DESCRIPTION The melting clock is the most recognizable Dalinian image and the artist chose to portray it consistently throughout his lifetime. Dalí became obsessed with the concept of time and used the melted watch image in many of his works. Dalí brings to this sculpture a dynamism, where the clock appears to be literally “dancing”. Unrestrained by the rigid laws of a watch, time, for Dalí, moves to the rhythm of a perpetual dance, speeding up, slowly down, stretching out, liquefying. Some say that Dalí represents in his watches Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity of space and time; the dancing watch illustrating the concept of movement through time. The Dance of Time III is presented alongside Dance of Time I and Dance of Time II.