The Burning Giraffe

Circa 1937, Salvador Dalí painted this disturbing vision of feminine figures with open drawer-like compartments in their bodies, set against a twilight sky where a giraffe burns in the distance. The women support themselves with crutch-like props, their forms simultaneously classical and grotesque.

Dalí described the burning giraffe as a "cosmic apocalyptic monster," painted shortly before World War II began. The drawer motif, influenced by Freud's theories, suggests the hidden compartments of the subconscious mind. The elongated figures reference classical sculpture while subverting it entirely.

The painting resides at Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, part of their significant Surrealist holdings.