Dali’s Elephant

You might be familiar with Dali’s elephant on the South Bank in London. Not sure you have noticed its smile though.

Dali’s ELEPHANT was inspired by Bernini’s ELEPHANT, whose ELEPHANT was in fact inspired by another ELEPHANT. One from a 15^th century novel’s  illustration.

And again, Bernini’s elephant ( photo courtesy of Chris Miller) wasn’t his elephant, but one of student’s. Bernini was commissioned by the Pope to create a sculpture to support an obelisk located in Piazza della Minerva in Rome. It was one of Bernini’s students who actually created the sculpture of an elephant. Why is it smiling? It’s because the animal was sculpted as if it were defecating: its muscles are tensed and its tail is shifted to the left. Also, the elephant’s rear is pointed at the office of Bernini’s enemies as his final word.

Hehe, just by coincidence, the elephant’s rear on the South Bank  points at the London Eye! 

There is a story about the schoolboy Dali, that I found particularly interesting. When he was 11-12 years old, he set up at playtime a money-changing table and announced that he would buy five centimo coins for ten centimo each. His fellow pupils gladly exchanged their five centimo pieces for ten centimo pieces as long as the supply (from Dali’s parental home) lasted. They thought that Salvador was mad, while he claimed with his well known dramatic skill that he had made a mathematical discovery which will bring him untold profits )

This story shows that Dali valued attention and fame more than money. Also, that there are so many things artists can buy with money. Modern art does indeed rely on solid financial subventions.

Act mad, spend some money and you’ll increase your chances of being a famous artist!