Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Dalí's first work fully realized through his paranoiac-critical method. On the left, Narcissus crouches by a lake; on the right, the same shape becomes a giant stone hand gripping a cracked egg from which a narcissus flower sprouts. The two forms mirror each other so precisely that the eye oscillates between figure and stone.

Dalí accompanied the painting with a poem, making it a rare case where text and image were conceived as a unified work.

Acquired by patron Edward James, now at the Tate. One of the most recognized Surrealist paintings in any public museum.