Salvador Dalí

Galerie du Dragon, Paris
Collection Perrot Moore (acquired from the above in 1975)
Sale: ArtCurial, Paris, June 30, 2003, lot 14
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Le Surréalisme au Service de la Révolution, Paris, 1931, illustration of another example p. 17
Salvador Dalí, La Conquête de l'irrationnel, Paris, 1935, illustration of another example
Dictionnaire Abrégé du Surréalisme, Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme (exhibition catalogue), Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris 1938, illustration of another example p. 45
André Breton, Le Surréalisme et la peinture, Paris, 1965
William S. Rubin, Dada and Surrealist Art, New York, 1969, p. 269, illustration of another example p. 253
Louisiana Revy, Salvador Dalí, Humlebaek, 1973, illustration of another example p. 16
Dada and Surrealism Reviewed (exhibition catalogue), The Hayward Gallery, London, 1978, no. 115, illustration of another example p. 267
Luis Romero, Tout Dalí en un visage, Paris, 1975, no. 390, illustration of another example p. 304
Objets Surréalistes, 1931 - 1937 (exhibition catalogue), Galerie du Dragon, Paris, 1979
Salvador Dalí Retrospective 1920 - 1980 (exhibition catalogue), Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1979, no. 155, illustration of another example p. 219
Robert Descharnes, Dalí, The Work, the Man, New York, 1984, illustration of another example, p. 151
Louisiana Revy, Salvador Dalí, Humlebaek, 1989, no. 85, illustration of another example
Robert Descharnes & Gilles Néret, Salvador Dalí, 1904-1989, The Paintings 1904-1946, vol. I, Cologne, 1994, no. 404, illustration of another example p. 180
Anthony Sheldon, ed., Fetishism, Visualising Power and Desire, London, 1995, illustration of another example p. 74
Haim Finkelstein, Salvador Dalí's Art and Writing, 1927-1942. The Metamorphoses of Narcissus, Cambridge, 1996, illustration of another example p. 165
Robert Radford, Dalí, London, 1997, p. 144, illustration of another example
William Jeffet, Masterpieces of Surrealism, Florida, 2000, illustration of another example p. 29
It's all Dalí (exhibition catalogue), Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 2005, illustration of another example p. 230

The sculpture is slightly dirty, but all the elements are intact and in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

According to Salvador Dalí: "The surrealist object is one that is absolutely useless from a practical and rational point of view, and is created wholly for the purpose of materializing in a fetishistic way, with the maximum of tangible reality, ideas and fantasies that have a delirious character" (Le Surréalisme au Service de la Révolution, Paris, 1931, p. 16-17).

Le Soulier de Gala, alternatively titled The Pubic Hair of the Virgin, has been explained by Dalí as: "A woman's shoe, inside of which a glass of warm milk has been placed, in the center of a soft paste in the color of excrement. The mechanism consists of the dipping in the milk of a sugar lump, on which there is a drawing of a shoe, so that the dissolving of the sugar, and consequently the image of the shoe, may be observed" (Salvador Dalí, "Objets Surréalistes", Le Surréalisme au Service de la Révolution, Paris, 1931, p. 16-17). By incorporating such an array of sensuous elements, from the texture of the hair to the temperature of the milk, the visuals of the erotic photography and the implied impact of the faux excrement, Dalí assaults his audience on all fronts. This intermingling of the senses evokes the dream-like experience of the subconcious, from within which the artist hoped to liberate latent psychosexual desires.