Mae West lips sofa
(1937-1938)
Medium
wool, horsehair, wood, metal
Measurements
77.0 × 205.7 × 96.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Paula Fox AO and Fox Family Foundation, Mavourneen Cowen, Tim Fairfax AC and Gina Fairfax AC, The Betsy and Ollie Polasek Endowment, King Family Foundation, John and Jenny Fast, and Ralph Ward-Ambler AM and Barbara Ward-Ambler, donors to the 2023 NGV Foundation Annual Dinner and 2023 NGV Annual Appeal in memory of Robert J. Wylde, 2024
© Salvador Dali/VEGAP, Madrid. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Salvador Dalí first travelled to America in 1934, and from that point onwards he was to remain fascinated by American culture and by Hollywood in particular. In 1934–35 Dalí created a gouache composition over a photograph of film star Mae West from a commercial magazine. In Mae West’s face which may be used as a Surrealist apartment (Art Institute of Chicago), her platinum blond hair hangs over a curtain rod to provide drapes framing a room, her eyes are two framed pictures, her nose becomes a fireplace, and her lips form a two-tone sofa. In 1936 Dalí’s British patron Edward James suggested that the artist’s idea for the lips become reality. In all, five sofas in three variant designs were made for James’s homes in London and West Sussex.