Salvador Dalí

Gift from the artist in 1962

Cologne, Museum Ludwig, Salvador Dalí, La Gare de Perpignan, Pop, Op, Yes-yes, Pompier, 2006, no. 161

Robert Descharnes & Gala Dalí, Dalí de Gala. The World of Salvador Dalí, Lausanne, New York, Milan & Tokyo, 1962, illustrated p. 56

Chromogenic print on paper. Uniform minor yellowing consistent with the age of the print. Not laid down. Some light scuffing to the edges and minor surface scratches. Media marks on the reverse and traces of a previous mount. Otherwise very good original condition.
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Robert Descharnes (1926-2014) was the person who saved Salvador Dalí's life during the infamous fire in the artist's bedroom at his château in Pubol in 1984. These two personalities were bound by a close friendship that spanned over forty years. They were first introduced to each other by Georges Mathieu while they were both travelling on the liner America in 1950 and during the decades that followed they collaborated on a wide-range of photographic and cinematic projects leading to several iconic publications such as Dalí de Gala (1962). The four lots presented here were created by Dalí to illustrate this book, using the distinctive technique of embellishing Descharnes’ photographic prints with surreal gouache and India ink elements. This idiosyncratic synthesis of different media is testament to the spirit of artistic experimentation that defined the pair’s productive alliance. After the Catalan painter’s death, Descharnes would become the recognised authority on the Dalinean œuvre, playing an instrumental role in defending his friend’s legacy and publishing works such as Dalí, l'œuvre et l'homme (1984) and Dalí, l'œuvre peint (1993), still considered the definitive reference works on the artist to this day.