Salvador Dalí’s sculpture Motherhood belongs to the private collection of Pavel Bashmakov in Saint Petersburg and can be seen at Bashmakov Gallery.
The sculpture is a female torso that, at first glance, appears wrapped in fabric fastened on the left shoulder with a gold clasp. This recalls the dress of Roman soldiers, who wore the paludamentum, a cloak whose colour indicated rank. Purple marked the highest commanders. Tellingly, Dalí’s sculpture has this very shade. There may be an echo here between male and female status in social life, between motherhood and military achievement, placing them on an equal footing.
Compositionally, the central element of the sculpture is a golden “constellation” of female breasts. It seems to emerge from within the female body, revealing the conjunction of two dimensions: the breasts on the surface and the egg cells within. At the same time, the breasts vary in size, smaller at the edges and larger in the centre, which sets up the dynamics of their appearance, growth and ripening. The image of motherhood seems to compress the whole biological span of female fertility, from the appearance of egg cells to the breast nursing an infant. What is depicted is a female form of multiplicity, implying a ceaseless process of emergence and renewal. The central part is made of gold, pointing to its value. Gold also invites a parallel with an “award”: a breast covered in breasts, or a chest covered in medals.
The theme of fertility can also be read in the image of a bunch of grapes. The whole celebration of the birth and nourishment of new life is crowned by a golden detail in the form of a melting clock, Dalí’s favourite motif. The clock, like a sperm cell, is poised to enter the ripened fig, and all that remains is to wait, as the clock hands suggest. They are also a reminder of the transience of the female biological principle, set against another constant, symbolised by the image of the clock face: memory.