Surrealist Portrait of Dali Surrounded by Butterflies (Memories of Surrealism)

About the work

Published in portfolio of the same name. The lithographs were executed after collages, and overprinted with an etched copperplate, reworked in drypoint by Dalí. The Memories of Surrealism portfolio represents Dalí’s reflection on the Surrealist movement, of which he was a major figurehead. Dalí was intrigued by the theme of memory, which held such a powerful grip on his own career. The portfolio consists of twelve original etchings on photolithography after the original gouache and collage paintings produced in 1971, fifty years after he had painted the famous Persistence of Memory, his most celebrated canvas. 'Surrealistic Portrait of Dalí Surrounded by Butterflies' features the photograph of Dalí by Philippe Halsman from the book 'Dalí’s Mustache,' where Dalí’s face was superimposed on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. This photo was inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q., where Duchamp had drawn a mustache on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa.