$3.6M Dali sculpture coming to Little Burgundy park

A big bronzepachyderm topped with a golden pyramid will soon travel from Quebec City to Montreal where it will take up residence inLittle Burgundyfor the next two years.

"The obelisk leads the elephant towards space and the legs are stretching to defy weightlessness," said Sylvain Fortier, president of Galrie Griffintown, a commercial gallery in Montreal's Southwest borough.

"This elephant has bat ears, the tail of a pig and the beard of a goat," Fortiersaid.

Space Elephant is a work made by legendary Spanish artist Salvador Dali, best known for his paintings of melting clocks and his iconic moustache.

Dalimade the seven-metre sculpture in 1980, when he was in his 70s. It's an edition of eight, which means there are seven othercopies in existence.

This one is owned by a Swiss collector who has consigned it to Fortier with the goal of selling it. The asking price: $3.6 million.

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The dealer worked out an agreement with theborough to put the elephant in Parc des Meubliers at no cost to the city.

"It doesn't cost us money," said Southwest borough mayor Benoit Dorais, who called the elephant a "masterpiece."

"All the costs are for Mr.Fortier, so it's a win-win situation."

It's not the first time theelephant has packed its trunk and hit the road the bronze beast has stoodin front of the Chteau Frontenac in Quebec City since May.

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It will remain parked at Parcdes Meubliersuntil 2019, even through the winter unless it's sold.

"If we sell it and the client wants it soon, we'll just make sure we can replace it with another monumental sculpture by Dali," Fortier said.

Salvador Dali was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. A publicity-seeker and iconoclast, he once famously quipped, "I don't do drugs. I am drugs."