How surreal! Minister’s bid to keep Dali lobster phone in UK
SALVADOR Dali was eating lobster on a bed at the London home of his millionaire friend Edward James when another guest threw a shell and it landed on top of the telephone.
The freak incident in 1936 so grabbed the Spanish surrealist’s imagination that he went on to encase the receiver of a Bakelite phone in a plaster lobster. Thus was born one of his most famous artistic creations.
In all, 11 similar artworks were made in 1938. One of the red ones is owned by the Tate Modern. But the fate of the last known white example in the UK has just become another, far more complicated kettle of fish.
Arts minister Michael Ellis has put a temporary export bar on the item – now valued at more than £850,000 and titled Lobster Telephone (White Aphrodisiac) – to give buyers a chance to keep it in the UK. He said: ‘This iconic work was created in the UK, and I want it to remain here. I hope a buyer can be found to save it for the nation.’ But the level of concern over the possible loss of the phone has led to raised eyebrows. TV executive Peter Hoskins tweeted: ‘Really quite surreal … is it really the role of government to get involved in this kind of thing?’ The identity of the phone’s buyer has not been revealed, but it is understood the artwork was sold for £845,000 in 2016 and came from the Edward James Foundation.