Sunday Dalí: Combinations (or The complete dalinian phantasm: hunts, keys, nails, etc.), 1931. Gauche on paper, 5½ x 3½ inches. Private collection, New York, NY.
This painting, which is clearly influenced by Magritte’s works such as The Key of Dreams (1930) and may have influenced Magritte’s The Eternally Obvious in the way that the main images are broken up and compartmentalized.
This painting also prominently features ants, the largest concentration of which are covering the woman’s pubic area, resembling hair. The ants recall a time when Dalí, as a boy, discovered a dead animal with ants crawling through it. In his paintings, the ants typically symbolize death. Their placement in this painting suggests a sexual frustration and/or fantasy. The oversized key, which also protrudes from the woman’s vulva suggests Dalí’s sexual fantasies.
(via bibidebabideboo)
