Lot 92C
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Nuptials," from the poetic novel entitled "Les Chants de Maldoror" (The Songs of Maldoror) - plate 4, Lacouriere #84; Signs of the Zodiac, Skira publisher, 1934. An original limited edition print in photogravure, roulette, and drypoint. Edition of 100. In 1930, the legendary Surrealist artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was asked to illustrate an 1869 text entitled "Les Chants de Maldoror", a work written and published by Comte de Lautremont (pseudonym for Uruguayan, French-born author Isidor-Lucien Ducasse) that Dali and fellow Surrealists including Andre Breton, Antonin Artaud, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Max Ernst rediscovered in the early modern period of the 20th century. The text presented a nonlinear and surrealistic nightmarish story of a ruthlessly, evil protagonist in a poem of six cantos divided into 60 verses. Salvador Dali, perhaps the most prominent, imaginative, and eccentric Spanish Surrealist artist, illustrated only one edition of the book, published in 1934, which is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City ("MoMA - The Collection - Salvador Dali. Les Chants de Maldoror. 1934". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved May 19, 2016.) "Nuptials" is plate 4 of "Les Chants de Maldorer", an original limited edition print in photogravure, roulette, and drypoint. To create the composition Dali drew from his signature technique called "paranoiac-critical" which involved using a stream-of-consciousness methodology to make contact with his delusions and hallucinations. In lieu of the expected, Dali elected to draw upon his unique, personal visions rather than scenes literally described in the poem to create his illustrations. A wonderful example that captures Dali at the height of his career in the 1930s, an important decade for the master's artistic development as well as the period when Surrealism gained worldwide recognition. Archivally matted, ready to be framed. Size: 11.75" L x 7.25" W (29.8 cm x 18.4 cm), 20" x 16" (50.8 x 40.6 cm) with mat.
As described by the MoMa curatorial department, "A theatrical and provocative persona among the Parisian Surrealists, Salvador Dali was obsessed with depicting what he called his own hallucinations. He made some fifteen hundred prints over the course of his lifetime, fifty-seven of which were created during the 1930s, the key decade for his artistic development and the period when Surrealism gained widespread recognition. Most of Dali's prints from this era appeared as illustrations and frontispieces in books by André Breton, Paul Eluard, and Tristan Tzara, among others, reflecting the artist's close association with the movement's literary figures." ("MoMA - The Collection - Salvador Dali. Les Chants de Maldoror. 1934". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved May 19, 2016.)
Provenance: Ex-Albert Field (author of the most respected catalogue raisonne of the prints), gift to the present owner.
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#115212
- Condition: Slight overall toning on paper that is consistent with its age and does not detract from its appearance. A light wash would bring the paper back to a lighter white and enhance the contrast with the black ink of the etching. However, quite nice in its present condition.
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