Mae West Lips Sofa
Illustration — On display at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2017 The Mae West Lips Sofa is a surrealist sculpture in the form of a sofa by Salvador Dalí. The light red, sized seating furniture made of polyurethane foam (note: polyurethane was invented in 1937 and became accessible in late 1950s only) coated with a red polidur coating was shaped after the lips of actress Mae West, whom Dalí apparently found fascinating. Dalí never intended for the sofa to serve a functional use.
Mae West Lips Sofa
Sailko · CC BY 3.0
- Period
- 1938
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Illustration — On display at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 2017 The Mae West Lips Sofa is a surrealist sculpture in the form of a sofa by Salvador Dalí. The light red, sized seating furniture made of polyurethane foam (note: polyurethane was invented in 1937 and became accessible in late 1950s only) coated with a red polidur coating was shaped after the lips of actress Mae West, whom Dalí apparently found fascinating. Dalí never intended for the sofa to serve a functional use.
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wikidata · Q17986845 · wikipedia · Mae West Lips Sofa
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Overview
Overview
He also claimed that he partly based the design of the sofa on a pile of rocks near Cadaqués and Portlligat, where he stayed for many years with his wife, Gala Éluard Dalí. Edward James, a rich British patron of the Surrealists, originally commissioned the piece from Dalí. The original five versions were produced in 1937–38, which are now held in the art collections of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Catalonia, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Brighton Museum, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. The sofa was reproduced in 1973 by Baccio Design, known also as BD Barcelona Design.
It is recorded as the work of Salvador Dalí. The record gives 1938 as its date of establishment or first appearance. It is associated with surrealism. It is recorded in the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Victoria and Albert Museum.
Mae West Lips Sofa designed by Salvador Dali and Edward James, made by Green Abbott UK in 1938. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, item number W.6-2018
14GTR
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 1 entries
1938
Mae West Lips Sofa first recorded.
Literature
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.L'histoire des canapés à lèvres emblématiques de Dalí. www.architecturaldigest.com.
- 2.Mae West’s Face which May be Used as a Surrealist Apartment. www.artic.edu.
- 3.Le Théâtre-Musée Dalí à Figueres. www.florilegeswebjournal.com.
- 4.L'histoire fascinante derrière le canapé 'Lips' de Salvador Dalí. www.houseandgarden.co.uk.
- 5.Canapé lèvres. www.parfums-salvadordali.com.
- 6.Le « Mae West Lips Sofa ». www.hartoftp.com.
- 7.Canapé Boca. www.gufram.it.
- 8.La Bocca sur Zanker 2005. www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr.
- 9.Canapé Boca. www.ateliergermain.com.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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