Salvador Dalí
Condotierre, 1970-1980
Cast bronze
Gift of Joseph S. Czestochowski in honor of Dr. Martin Bush
Spanish artist Salvador Dalí is perhaps the best known and most beloved of the Surrealists. The melting clocks in his famous canvas The Persistence of Memory are instantly recognizable to most people. But Dalí’s fame transcended his art. He had his own perfume line, and collaborated with fashion designers, creating a lobster-themed dress so scandalous that it hastened the abdication of British King Edward VIII when his American wife-to-be, Wallis Simpson, wore it in a photograph for Vogue. He even published a book about his mustache.
Dalí wasn’t shy about his success, either. He once wrote that, “Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joys is mine: that of being Salvador Dalí.” He also said, “Oh Salvador, now you know the truth: that if you act the genius, you will be one!” Dalí clearly believed in his own artistic prowess—while still in his 20s, he painted a self-portrait in which he took on the features of that other famous Catalonia painter: Pablo Picasso. It is not surprising then, that the artist pictured himself as a Renaissance-era condottiere twice: once in the sculpture standing before you, and once in an etching. Examine the Condottiere and see if you can find Dalí’s signature handlebar moustache.
Condottieri were the leaders of mercenary companies in Renaissance Italy. They could become wealthy and respected men—one of the first large-scale bronze equestrian sculptures of the Renaissance, Condottiero Colleoni in Venice, features such a man. However, like a true Surrealist, Dalí gives us more than one image in the sculpture. Beyond a self-portrait of the artist, the image also looks like a man with flowing hair in an elaborate hat. Is Dalí suggesting that he is like that most famous soldier in a fancy hat, the Biblical hero David, perhaps as depicted in a bronze by Donatello? Or does the faceless soldier suggest something more sad or sinister about the role of a professional, paid soldier?