Tête otorhinologique de Vénus

Salvador Dalí (in 1964 (1970))

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Mette Djernæs asked

What does otorhinologique mean?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Dear Mette, Oto means 'ear' and rhino means 'nose'. I think Dalí used the Latin words in the title to foool us and make us think that something very serious and important is happening in the sculpture, but in fact it is a (funny) nose-ear swap. Kind regards, Els

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By swapping the positions of the nose and ear on this plaster cast of a classical bust of the goddess Venus, Dalí has made the impossible possible and has created a highly personal surrealist work. This is a reconstruction of the original sculpture from 1964 made by the museum with the artist's permission in 1970, the year of the major Dalí exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

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Specifications

Title	Tête otorhinologique de Vénus
Material and technique	Plaster
Object type	Sculpture > Three-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Width 54 cm Height 70,5 cm Depth 41 cm
Artists	Artist: Salvador Dalí
Accession number	BEK 1466 (MK)
Credits	Purchased 1970
Department	Modern Art
Acquisition date	1970
Creation date	in 1964 (1970)
Entitled parties	© Salvador Dalí, Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí, c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2022
Provenance	Services techniques et commerciaux de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris
Exhibitions	Rotterdam 1970-71; Rotterdam 1984; Stuttgart/Zurich/Humlebaek 1989-90; Rotterdam 2013-14a; Rotterdam 2017b
Internal exhibitions	Het voorbeeld van de klassieken (1984) The Collection Enriched (2011) Een paraplu, een naaimachine en een ontleedtafel. Surrealisme à la Dalí in Rotterdam. (2013) Collectie - surrealisme (2017)
External exhibitions	Dal nulla al sogno (2018) A Surreal Shock. Masterpieces from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2023) Dalí, Magritte, Man Ray and Surrealism. Highlights from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2023) Surrealist Art - Masterpieces from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2021) A Surreal Shock – Masterpieces from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2021) Only the Marvelous is Beautiful (2022)
Research	Show research Digitising Contemporary Art Show research A dream collection - Surrealism in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Literature	Rotterdam 1970, cat. no. 191; Ades 1982, p. 169, fig. 140; Stuttgart/Zurich 1989, p. 377, cat. no. 286; Descharnes 1997, p. 378; R. Descharnes/N. Descharnes 2003, pp. 34-35, fig. 62
Material	Plaster > Mineral > Minerals and stones > Inorganic material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Sculpture > Three-dimensional object > Art object
Geographical origin	Spain > Southern Europe > Europe

Show research Digitising Contemporary Art Show research A dream collection - Surrealism in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

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