Ceci n'est pas un cocktail trolley

Surrealism: It can be so full of wit and invention, so thought-provoking. At its worst, though, it can be mind-numbingly dull and repetitive. Exhibitions about Surrealism seem to oscillate between the two extremes as well. Having been to quite a few, we're delighted to say that Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today at the Design Museum in London is one of the best.

This is a big and wide-ranging show, and we happily spent more than two hours seeing some objects that were very familiar, and some that weren't. We laughed out loud quite a bit.

Think of Surrealist objects, and the chances are that Salvador Dalí's Lobster Telephone and Mae West Lips Sofa will come to mind, and of course they are here, right at the start of the exhibition, as eye-catching and intriguing as ever.  

What a bizarre yet beautiful piece of furniture the sofa is. Dalí created it at the suggestion of his friend and patron, Edward James, for his Monkton House residence on the West Dean estate in West Sussex. James had five of the sofas made, having been inspired by an earlier Dalí painting, Mae West's Face which May Be Used as a Surrealist Apartment. In fact, a number of people were involved in the project, and among the exhibits is a sketch by the designer Edward Carrick working out the dimensions, literally on the back of an envelope. 

As well as being turned on by the American film star and sex symbol, Dalí also considered both lobsters and telephones to be very erotic. So he combined them, and James ordered 11 of them for his London townhouse. "Put the caller through to lobster number 8, please."

There are more objects from West Dean in this show, because it's quite surreal how big a role Sussex has played in the history of Surrealism. We've seen before the carpet woven for James with the footprints of his wife, the Austrian dancer Tilly Losch. But we hadn't heard the story told in this show about him replacing it after their divorce with one woven with his dog's paw prints, saying his pet "represented a more faithful friend." 

Let's go next to Dalí's Catalonia, to see an object that's just as wacky and wonderful, but also a Surrealist artefact from before anyone actually thought of Surrealism.  

There are a lot of chairs in this exhibition. Chairs have quite a lot of anthropomorphic qualities, don't they, making them already a bit surreal in their own right? They have arms, and legs and feet, and a back. But this one goes a bit further. It's apparently got hands.... and if you look closely, you'll see that it seems to have.... knees! (And possibly even a head.)

This, we were astonished to find, is a 1900 design by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, best known for the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. It was an oh-ho! moment. 

Like many of the exhibits in this show, the Gaudí armchair is from the collection of the Vitra Design Museum in south-west Germany, which originated this exhibition. 

There's really only one other Surrealist artist to be mentioned in the same breath as Dalí, and that's René Magritte. His most famous work? Perhaps it's The Treachery of Images, the picture of a pipe with the inscription "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" or "This is not a pipe." That painting's not here, but we do get to see Magritte's response to himself from a few years later, which was new to us: Ceci est un morceau de fromage (This Is a Piece of Cheese), in which a painting of a slightly runny wedge of cheese is placed under a glass dome on a marble cheese platter. 

If that isn't a pipe, and that is a piece of cheese, what's this?

This is a cocktail trolley, and an homage to Magritte made around 1960 by the Italian furniture designer Aldo Tura. Perfect for one of those Surrealist parties where the drinks, snacks and guests turn out to be not all they seem at first sight.

Surrealists have been a constant inspiration to furniture designers since the 1930s -- Fantasy Modern was becoming a very fashionable style of interior design by the end of the decade. But it's more than a bit disconcerting to see how the Italian Carlo Mollino was creating Surrealist-influenced interiors in Fascist Italy around 1940.... in Germany at that time this sort of work would surely have been denounced as degenerate.  

You can have lots of fun in this show wondering where in your home you'd put a life-sized horse lamp or an unexpectedly squishy foam easy chair in the shape of the top of an Ionic column and capital. This bicycle-wheeled dining table could provide the opening for a conversation at a dinner party, and then you could easily move it round to the next topic both physically and vocally. 

More bits of bikes pop up too -- as handlebar tables and saddle stools, the latter perhaps not quite so surreal. 

Surrealism delves into your innermost unconscious thoughts. You wouldn't be able to get away from them, faced with this piece of furniture designed by Man Ray. But there is an escape.... 

"The large eye, the witness, insistently observes you in your home," Ray said. "When your conscience cannot withstand it, then you turn it over and it immediately turns into a sofa." Phew. 

You're not going to see every famous Surrealist design object here. Meret Oppenheim's fur-covered teacup, saucer and spoon are mentioned on several occasions on the wall captions but seemingly never get to leave the Museum of Modern Art in New York (there's an Oppenheim show on there right now, in any case) and we don't even get to see a photo. 

Compared with the furniture, the fashion section in this show is a wee bit underwhelming, with less than you might expect from Elsa Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli, though, manufactured this eye-and-tear brooch designed by Jean Cocteau that's a highlight among the jewellery.

Surrealist design continues today, as we see in the final room. Find out how you can sketch a chair in three dimensions using the latest technology (the result looks both uncomfortable and a dustcatcher) or create a table from carved polystyrene foam and spray paint. Interesting, but without the shock factor. Surrealism is just a bit too familiar....

And what about Dalí and Walt Disney? They were natural companions, as you gather from the animated short film, started in 1945 and only finished 58 years later, that's one of the videos you can watch playing on a loop in the exhibition hall. 

This is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable show. Highly recommended. 

Practicalities

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today is on at the Design Museum in London until February 19. The exhibition is open from 1000 to 1800 Sunday to Thursday and 1000 to 2100 Friday and Saturday, though the museum will be closed December 24-26 and shuts at 1800 on December 23, 30 and 31. Full-price tickets are £16.80 (£18.50 with a Gift Aid donation) and it's advisable to book them online here. 

The Design Museum is located just off Kensington High St, near the entrance to Holland Park, and it's within a short walk of both High Street Kensington Underground station on the District and Circle lines and of Kensington Olympia, which has Overground and Southern trains and a limited District Line service.

Images

Salvador Dalí and Edward James, Mae West’s Lips Sofa, c. 1938, Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, Brighton and Hove. © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, DACS 2022
Salvador Dalí, Lobster Telephone, 1938. Photo: West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, West Sussex. © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, DACS 2022
Antoni Gaudí, Armchair for Casa Calvet, Barcelona, 1975 edition of 1900 design, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
René Magritte, Ceci est un morceau de fromage (This Is a Piece of Cheese), 1963-64 re-edition of 1936 original, Private collection 
Aldo Tura, La Pipa, about 1960, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Gae Aulenti, Tour, 1993, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Man Ray, Le Témoin (The Witness), 1972, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Jean Cocteau, Untitled (Brooch with Eye and Tear), manufactured by Elsa Schiaparelli, 1952. Photo Frank Strous for Design Museum Den Bosch, Netherlands