Galacidalacidesoxyribonucleicacid (also known as Homage to Crick and Watson (Discoverers of DNA)) is a 1963 painting by Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

. The painting's title is a portmanteau of the name of Dali's wife, Gala Dalí

Gala Dalí

Gala Dalí , usually known simply as Gala, was the wife of first Paul Éluard, then Salvador Dalí, and an inspiration for them and many other writers and artists.- Early years :...

, and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). It is a tribute to Francis Crick

Francis Crick

Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...

 and James D. Watson

James D. Watson

James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...

, who determined the double helical structure of DNA in 1953.

The painting is in the collection of the Salvador Dalí Museum

Salvador Dalí Museum

The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, houses the largest collection outside Europe of the works of the artist Salvador Dalí and is located on the Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront.-History:...

 in Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

.

History

The painting was commissioned by the New England National Bank of Boston

Bank of New England

The Bank of New England Corporation was a regional banking institution based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1991 as a result of heavy losses in its loan portfolio and was placed into Chapter 7 liquidation...

.

Composition

Gala Dalí is depicted in the foreground of the painting, with her back to the viewer.

Analysis

In a note describing the work, Dalí mused that the double helix is "the only structure linking man to God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

."