Dali's sculptural world

Salvador Dali (1904-1989), one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, is often remembered for his soft watch images, inspired by melting camembert cheese. In Ju Ming's exhibition, 15 Dali pieces are showcased, including two soft watches.

The Spanish artist is widely known as a surrealist. A fan of Freud, Dali's works seem to depict restless dreams and fantasies and to destroy any fixed notion of time and space as the artist indulges in an alien world.

Dali held his first solo exhibition in Barcelona in 1925, about the time he started to work on large-scale sculpture. Since 1965, he used repeated themes from his paintings, such as the soft watches, an elephant with spider's legs or the goddess Venus equipped with cupboard drawers. He tapped themes that were forbidden by many conventional societies of the time, such as sex and violence. However, his funky, eerie style and themes didn't curb his fame or acceptance. He has designed windows for department stores on Fifth Avenue and has been honored with awards from the French government and the Spanish royal family. During his career, his versatility also manifested itself in occasional stints as a filmmaker and actor.

Willington Lee (李松峰), owner of Galerie Elegance and a researcher on western art, said Dali has been lauded as one of the three most influential Spanish artists of the century, in addition to Picasso and Miro. Lee also thinks Dali is more imaginative compared to other surrealists. Dali's sculpture is also not as hard to obtain -- even famous ones such as "Hommage to Newton" and "The Persistence of Memory" -- because as for each model he would often make 350 copies.

His most famous and expensive pieces, however, are actually jewelry commissioned by a New York jeweler. The 29 pieces have become his most representative work and are stored in a museum in Japan exclusively dedicated to Dali.