♥ SALVADOR DALì Tribute ♥

Salvador Dali

(1904 - 1989)

Spanish painter, graphic artist, filmmaker, writer. A modern master of the surreal arts, Salvador Dali’s works continually challenged convention by questioning the antithesis of surrealism: our normal sense of the “real." Surrealism’s objective was to make accessible to art the realms of the unconscious, irrational and imaginary. An expansive movement that extended beyond the canvas, Surrealism embraced literature, music, cinema, philosophy and popular culture. Dali’s works drew inspiration from fellow Surrealists, such as Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Joan Miro and Yves Tanguy, and also from old European masters like Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Giovanni Bracelli and Antoni Gaudi.

Dali’s Surrealist adventures began in 1929 when he painted his first Surrealist painting, The Lugubrious Game. His painting style, which reflects his academic training in its precise, almost photographic realism, transformed Surrealism by the early 1930s. Inspired by psychoanalytical writings of Sigmund Freud, Dali believed that his detailed illusionism was instrumental in the exploration of the dream imagery and the subconscious that he painted. Dali’s works depict a highly provocative pictorial language that illustrate his imagery into painted metaphors. Iconic images such as a melting clock, the burning giraffe and swarming ants are all keys that Dali offers the viewer to try and unlock his cryptic images. Dali was a theatrical and provocative persona among the Parisian Surrealists. During his extended career, Dali participated in the production of ten films, three theater productions, two operas and nine ballets. As a perpetual performer himself, Dali naturally cultivated friendships with those in the entertainment world such as Harpo Marx, Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney. Of all his diverse techniques, Dali was perhaps at his most virtuosic when it came to printmaking. The artist made over fifteen hundred prints during the course of his lifetime, fifty seven of which were created during the 1930’s, the key decade for his artistic development. Most of Dali’s prints from this era appeared as illustrations in books by fellow Surrealists like Andre Breton and Paul Eluard, among others. In 1930 Dali illustrated Les Chants de Maldoror, in which he used a stream-of-consciousness process to access personal hallucinations and delusions. These visions ultimately replaced what was described in the book, once again putting Dali on stage.

Artist Portfolio

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  |  Dali  

Dali’s incredible illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” (published in 1865) have caused it to become one of the rarest and most sought-after Dali suites. With the original gouaches published by Maecenas Press-Random House, New York in 1969, the suite now contains 12 heliogravures - one for each chapter of the book - and comes with 1 original signed etching in 4 colors as the frontpiece.
This collaboration brings together arguably two of the most creative minds in Western culture, as both are considered ultimate explorers of dreams and imagination.

Salvador Dalí Illustrates Alice in Wonderland, 1969

15 November, 2011

What the Mad Hatter has to do with one of the most inspired collaborations in Western culture.

Last week, we marveled at Leonard Weisgard’s stunning illustrations for thefirst color edition of Alice in Wonderland, circa 1949. But it turns out they might not be the most culturally intriguing. As reader Varvn Aryacetas points out on Twitter, exactly two decades later a collaboration of epic proportion took place as the Lewis Carroll classic was illustrated by none other than Salvador Dalí. (And let’s not forget what a soft spot I have for obscure children’s illustration by famous artists.)

Published by New York’s Maecenas Press-Random House in 1969 and distributed as their book of the month, the volume went on to become one of the most sought-after Dalí suites of all time. It contains 12 heliogravures, one for each chapter of the book, and one original signed etching in 4 colors as the frontpiece, all of which the fine folks at the William Bennett Gallery have kindly digitized for your gasping pleasure:

Frontpiece

Down the Rabbit Hole

The Pool of Tears

A Caucus Race and a Long Tale

The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

Advice From a Caterpillar

Pig and Pepper

Mad Tea Party

The Queen's Croquet Ground

The Mock Turtle's Story

The Lobster's Quadrille

Who Stole the Tarts?

Alice's Evidence

As you might expect, the book isn’t exactly easy to acquire — Amazon currently spots just a single copy, handsomely priced at $12,900, and there’s even a video tutorial on what to look for when you hunt for this treasure:

But the collaboration brought together two of the most exceptional creators of Western culture, both ticklers or curiosity and architects of the imagination, and who can really put a price tag on that? Besides, if this sucker can rein in $4.3 million, what’s $13K for a Dalí?

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