Description

Salvador Dali Small Ink and Watercolor Study ‘Exploded Head’

Artwork is an original study in ink and watercolor on paper

Rare and unknown artwork by Dali

Dated from around 1981 – this study is nr. 2 out of 2)

Artwork is signed but not dated

Size : 14 x 12 cm (5.6 x 4.8 inch)

The original and final painting (oil on canvas 140 x 100 cm) is part of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres.

3rd photo on site is the photo of the original work

Comes with a certificate from the Leo Castelli Gallery and provenance documents

Artwork is in extra fine condition

Bibliography :

Amanda Lear, Le Dalí d’Amanda, Pierre-Marcel Favre, Lausanne, 1984, n. p.

Marie-France Saurat, “Les Dalí inconnus”, Paris Match, 09-15/03/1984, Paris, p. 99 (detail)

Josep Vallès i Rovira, Dalí delit Empordà, Carles Vallès, Figueres, 1987, p. 166

Information on Salvador Dali

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquess of Dalí de Púbol (11 May 1904 – 23 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship and the striking and bizarre images in his work.

Born in Figueres, Catalonia, Dalí received his formal education in fine arts at Madrid. Influenced by Impressionism and the Renaissance masters from a young age, he became increasingly attracted to Cubism and avant-garde movements. He moved closer to Surrealism in the late 1920s and joined the Surrealist group in 1929, soon becoming one of its leading exponents. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931, and is one of the most famous Surrealist paintings. Dalí lived in France throughout the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) before leaving for the United States in 1940 where he achieved commercial success. He returned to Spain in 1948 where he announced his return to the Catholic faith and developed his “nuclear mysticism” style, based on his interest in classicism, mysticism and recent scientific developments.

Dalí’s artistic repertoire included painting, graphic arts, film, sculpture, design and photography, at times in collaboration with other artists. He also wrote fiction, poetry, autobiography, essays and criticism. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science and his closest personal relationships. To the dismay of those who held his work in high regard, and to the irritation of his critics, his eccentric and ostentatious public behavior often drew more attention than his artwork. His public support for the Francoist regime, his commercial activities and the quality and authenticity of some of his late works have also been controversial. His life and work were an important influence on other Surrealists, pop art and contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. There are two major museums devoted to his work: The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain and the Salvador Dalí Museum in Florida.

Excerpt of an article in the New York times in 1970 after his appearance on the Dick Cavett Show : ‘Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931. Dalí’s expansive artistic repertoire includes film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media. Dalí was highly imaginative, and also had an affinity for partaking in unusual and grandiose behavior. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention than his artwork to the dismay of those who held his work in high esteem and to the irritation of his critics.

Dalí employed extensive symbolism in his work. For instance, the hallmark “soft watches” that first appear in The Persistence of Memory suggest Einstein’s theory that time is relative and not fixed. The elephant is also a recurring image in Dalí’s works. It first appeared in his 1944 work Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. The egg is another common Dalíesque image. He connects the egg to the prenatal and intrauterine, thus using it to symbolize hope and love. Various animals appear throughout his work as well : ants point to death, decay, and immense sexual desire; the snail is connected to the human head; and locusts are a symbol of waste and fear.’

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