Salvador Dalí’s Vénus aux Tiroirs (Venus with Drawers), 1988 is the product of working in conjunction with artisans at the French glass-making studio, Daum. Dalí first began creating glass-work in 1967, making this work part of his first experimentation in the medium. This glass sculpture is based on one of Dalí’s previous drawings in 1930 of a Venus with drawers. For Dalí, the inclusion of drawers into the female body is a symbolic gesture towards Freudian psychoanalysis. In his own words “the only difference between immortal Greece and contemporary times is Sigmund Freud, who discovered that the human body, purely platonic in the Greek epoch, is nowadays full of secret drawers that only psychoanalysis is capable to open." In creating this sculpture, the artist envisioned the “anthropomorphic cabinet”, or a cabinet which slowly transforms into a female figure. This sculpture of Venus is also an exploration of the eroticism embedded within the body of the ancient Greek goddess of love. Moreover, the drawers become a metaphor for the ways in which Freudian psychoanalysis opens the hidden parts of human consciousness.

The glass sculpture is visually captivating and familiar for its likeness to the Venus de Milo at the Museé du Louvure, Paris. Colored in a sublime aquamarine blue, the body of Venus appears to glow. The cloth around her waist drapes beautifully, adding to a multidimensional experience. The silver drawers add a utilitarian aspect to an otherwise decorative work of art. Evidently, Dalí drew upon the thoughts of Marcel Duchamp who determined object making as a crucial part of Surrealist undertaking

Created in 1988 in the Daum crystal glass studio in Nancy, France, this pâte-de-verre, glass sculpture with silver metal is etched on the base ‘Daum France’; numbered from the edition of 850 on the base.

Catalogue Raisonne & COA:

Salvador Dalí’s Vénus aux Tiroirs (Venus with Drawers), 1988 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnès (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. A Certificate of Authenticity from Daum will accompany this work.

2. A Certificate of Authenticity from Masterworks will accompany this work.