Featured in the upcoming Impressionist & Modern Art Day sale on 17 May are three works by Salvador Dalí that remained in a prominent American family's collection until present day. In 1949, the Philadelphia banker and philanthropist Cummins Catherwood and his wife Ellengowen acquired 22 pieces of jewellery, including the legendary Eye of Time, directly from Salvador Dalí, as both patrons, and later friends, of the artist. The couple would review Dali's paper sketches of the jewels before the execution in diamond, platinum and precious gems. The Catherwoods were also friends with the artist Rudolgph von Ripper, a collaborator of the Argentinian jeweler Carlos Alemany, whom Dalí entrusted with making the limited number of these pieces under his strict observation. The Catherwoods displayed their extensive Dalí collection, which included works on paper and bespoke jewels in the living room of their Haverford, Pennsylvania mansion, where they later received a visit from Dalí himself. Click ahead to view the upcoming lots and the stories behind them.
Impressionist & Modern Art Day
17 May | New York