Salvador Dalí

Iva & Nada Peltcevitch (a gift from the artist, Christmas 1944)
Private Collection, Greece
By descent from the above to the present owner circa 1970

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount at intervals along the upper edge. All four edges are deckled. There is a small tear to the upper left edge (partly visible when framed), a small tear towards the centre of the upper edge and a further small tear towards the centre of the upper edge (all not visible when framed). There are some tiny nicks and a small paper loss to the upper edge (not visible when framed). There are some minor stains, mainly towards the upper and lower left corners. Apart from some very light foxing to the sheet, some time staining along the edges, due to previous mounting and some discolouration to the sheet, this work is in good condition.
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Dalí was introduced to the United States by the art dealer Julian Levy in 1936, shortly before the opening of Alfred H. Barr's seminal exhibition Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism at the Museum of Modern Art. This was the beginning of an incredibly productive phase in Dalí's career that saw him diversify his work, taking on commissions for advertising and working on numerous design projects for the theatre, cinema and ballet. It was here that Dalí, together with Gala, consolidated his standing as the true impresario of Surrealism. Dalí's first design project for the ballet was Bacchannale (originally named in German Venusberg) which was principally intended to open in London. However, plans were changed dramatically upon the outbreak of war in September 1939 and the production moved to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Dalí designed both the set and the costumes, which were produced by Coco Chanel; the production was choreographed by Leonide Massine for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. The project presented Dalí with an opportunity to elaborate upon his astounding Surrealist iconography on a truly epic scale (fig. 1).

Executed in 1939, the present work is an exceptional example of the drawings Dalí produced in preparation for the show and is testament to the artist's phenomenal skills as a draughtsman. The fluid, sinuous contours articulate a collection of figures grouped together in a dynamic pyramidal composition. Expressive gestures and bizarre bestial forms combine to create an image that is entirely the product of a fantastic imaginative departure. Dalí has placed the figures in a perspectival setting, entirely characteristic of his finest, most complete works on paper. The optically receding lines are reminiscent of Renaissance set designs, as popularised by the architect and theorist Jacopo Sansovino. The figures each exude a sense of Dionysian vitality perfectly befitting of the ballet's theme and are closely related to some of Dalí's most fantastic protagonists. In particular the third figure from the left is highly reminiscent of the eponymous figure which graced the cover of Minotaure no. 8 in 1936. Dalí rarely worked in pen and ink on the scale of the present work, which is being offered at auction for the first time.

Fig. 1, Salvador Dalí, Bacchanale, 1939, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Zürich