Landscape with Butterflies,1956 by Salvador Dali

Dali was both an art and science connoisseur. He held a particular fascination with the double helix, which appeared in many of his paintings, such as this painting - Landscape with Butterflies. Although the mere presence of DNA in Dali's paintings does not hold some deeper meaning, there was a logical reason that the helixes were included in this painting; Contrary to popular surrealism, the painting can be logically interpreted.

According to Dali and the Double Helix, written by Elena Guardiola and Joseph E. Banos of the Nature Publishing Company, Dali was interested in everything from quantum physics to the double helix. After reading Watson and Crick's 1953 article in Nature Magazine regarding DNA, Dali stated, "it is the real proof of the existence of God." Because Dali associated DNA strands with God, the viewer can assume that his addition of the helix to the otherwise drab landscape suggests the presence of God and creation in the everyday world. According to Guardiola and Banos, the DNA structure symbolizes life from God, the men shooting guns symbolize death, and God symbolizes life, the three stages that Dali believed to be a part of the human process. Dali used cross-cultural symbolism to represent his ideas to the reader in a clear fashion.