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Salvador Dalí  1904-1989

Salvador Dalí Autumnal Cannibalism 1936
© Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/DACS, London 2002
Autumnal Cannibalism  1936

Oil on canvas
support: 651 x 651 mm frame: 898 x 899 x 85 mm
painting

Purchased 1975

T01978
Painted just after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, this work shows a couple locked in a cannibalistic embrace. They are pictured on a table-top, which merges into the earthy tones of a Spanish landscape in the background. The conflict between countrymen is symbolised by the apple balanced on the head of the male figure, which refers to the legend of William Tell, in which a father is forced to shoot at his son.
 (From the display caption August 2004)