Art collector Peggy Guggenheim bought this painting from Gala Eluard (Dalí's wife of 50 years) for her Venice collection. 

This Surrealist work holds so many controversial images it is hard to keep track of all of them, but we wonder why Peg wanted to own it.

When Dalí was 5 years "young," he saw an insect eaten by ants with it's innards hollowed out, leaving only its outer shell. Looks like this imagery is present in Birth, despite the fact Dalí was extremely afraid of grasshoppers. He sure dealt with his intense grasshopper fear in interesting ways, often jumping up and down himself in public to get attention.  

Liquid is pouring from everything, and since the artist was so sex-obsessed we can guess what that may mean.

Dalí had a brother who died 9 months before he was born named Salvador, too. The surviving Salvador was told he was the brother reincarnated, which he believed his entire life. A fusing of mother, father and brother are all blended and becoming "one" in Birth of Liquid Desire. It was painted during a time when Dalí felt tremendously rejected by his father and at the same time he hooked up with Gala. It seems to pull all these fears and feelings he experienced together in a "portrait" sort of way. Better than family counseling? Sure.