Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Artist	Salvador Dalí
Year	1937
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	51.1 cm × 78.1 cm (20.12 in × 30¾ in)
Location	Tate Modern, London

Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. This painting is from Dalí's Paranoiac-critical period. According to Greek mythology, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Unable to embrace the watery image, he pined away, and the gods immortalized him as a flower. Dali completed this painting in 1937 on his long awaited return to Paris after having had great success in the United States.

The painting shows Narcissus sitting in a pool, gazing down. Not far away there is a decaying stone figure which corresponds closely to him but is perceived quite differently; as a hand holding up a bulb or egg from which a Narcissus is growing. The egg has been used as a symbol for sexuality in other paintings by Dali. In the background, a group of naked figures can be seen, while a third Narcissus like figure appears on the horizon.

A poem was written by Dalí to accompany the painting.

Salvador Dalí

List of works

Selected paintings	Landscape Near Figueras (1910) • Vilabertran (1913) • Fiesta in Figueres (1914–16) • Port of Cadaqués (Night) (1918–19) • The Artist's Father at Llane Beach (1920) • The Garden of Llaner (Cadaqués) (1920–21) • Cabaret Scene (1922) • Cubist Self-Portrait with "La Publicitat" (1923) • Self-portrait with L'Humanitie (1923) • Portrait of Luis Buñuel (1924) • Siphon and Small Bottle of Rum (1924) • The Basket of Bread (1926) • Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood (1927) • The Lugubrious Game (1929) • The First Days of Spring (1929) • The Great Masturbator (1929) • The Persistence of Memory (1931) • The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934) • Morphological Echo (1934–36) • Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's Angelus (1935) • Autumn Cannibalism (1936) • Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936) • The Burning Giraffe (1937) • Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) • Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937) • Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach (1938) • The Sublime Moment (1938) • Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time (1939) • The Face of War (1940) • Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940) • Honey is Sweeter than Blood (1941) • Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man (1943) • Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944) • Galarina (1944–45) • Basket of Bread (1945) • The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946) • The Elephants (1948) • Leda Atomica (1949) • The Madonna of Port Lligat (1949) • Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951) • Galatea of the Spheres (1952) • The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952–54) • Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954) • Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity (1954) • The Sacrament of the Last Supper (1955) • Living Still Life (1956) • The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958–59) • The Ecumenical Council (1959–60) • Galacidalacidesoxyribonucleicacid (1963) • Tuna Fishing (1966–67) • The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1968–70) • La Toile Daligram (1972) • The Swallow's Tail (1983)

Other works	Writings: Un Chien Andalou (1929) • L'Age d'Or (1930) • Giraffes on Horseback Salad (1937) • Libretto for Bacchanale (1939) • The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí (1942, autobiography) Films: Un Chien Andalou (1929) • L'Age d'Or (1930) • Spellbound (1945, dream sequence) • Impressions of Upper Mongolia (1975, narration) Animated films: Destino (1946, completed 2003) Logos: Chupa Chups Opera: Être Dieu (1985) Sculpture: Lobster Telephone (1936) • Mae West Lips Sofa (1937) Costumes: costumes for García Lorca's play Mariana Pineda (1927) Novels: Hidden Faces (1944)

Related articles	Castle of Púbol • Dalí Universe • Espace Dalí • Dalí Theatre and Museum • Salvador Dalí Museum • Salvador Dalí (film) • Little Ashes • Gala Dalí • Paranoiac-critical method