Montre molle et escargot dans une salle de bain avec deux baigneuses 1975

Salvador Dalí made this intriguing image of melting clocks, snails, and bathers in 1973, using a collage technique. Dalí was always interested in the social role of images. He knew that if he created something scandalous or bizarre enough, the cultural elite would flock to see it. This work makes meaning through visual codes, but Dalí was always more interested in commerce than content. The setting of this image is Spain during the Franco dictatorship, an authoritarian regime supported by wealthy landowners and the Catholic Church. Dalí supported Franco, so we can understand his art as a self-conscious endorsement of conservative social values. Historical research can reveal the political implications of even the strangest art. By researching the social and institutional history of Dalí's moment, we can understand the meaning of this image as something very contingent on its context.