LA MITE ET LA FLAMME

In the creation of this artwork, Dalí was not content with producing merely a candlestick.  Le Papillon a la Flamme, as in much of the artist’s other work, includes disturbing elements, such as the contorted mass that acts as a base in order to imbue his sculpture with symbolic meaning.  Dalí chose to portray many of his figures with a somewhat disconcerting edge; in doing so he managed to imbue his sculpture with symbolic meaning.  Throughout his life Dalí was enamoured with both butterflies and moths. Hovering above the flame of the lighted candle is the distorted shape of a moth, constructed with the possibility of flying safely above the flame or skimming low enough to singe its wings.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Date: 1974  

Material: bronze

Technique: lost wax process

Edition size: 8 plus 4EA

Height: 61 cm

Direct intervention (created by Dalí): the idea, the image and original maquette

Indirect intervention (created by artisans): lost wax process and patina