Butterflies

Salvador Dalí, one of the best-known artists of the Surrealism movement, returned to a variety of symbols in his work again and again. His dream-like imagery, painted with astounding detail, often included butterflies and moths. For Dalí, who was obsessed with objects and figures that were hybrids and optical illusions, the butterfly was the perfect example of a natural agent of transformation—something that began as one creature and ultimately became another. Dalí depicted these colorful winged insects across a range of mediums and projects, ranging from masterful oil paintings such as Landscape with Butterflies (1956) to a 1958 butterfly-inspired greeting card collaboration with Hallmark.