Spain 2nd page
In addition to Picasso and Miro.
See also : Ancient Spain Blue diamond Gris Tabletop Music and dance
Chronology : 1660-1679 1800-1809 1913 1914 1915 1929 1936
See also : Ancient Spain Blue diamond Gris Tabletop Music and dance
Chronology : 1660-1679 1800-1809 1913 1914 1915 1929 1936
1664 A Diamond for the Infanta
2008 SOLD 16.4 M£ including premium
It will be one of the most remarkable lots of this fall. A diamond in an extremely rare color, an exceptional size and a royal provenance dating back to more than three centuries ago.
This Indian greyish-blue diamond weighing 35.56 carat of VS2 clarity is chosen in 1664 by King Philip IV of Spain to enter the dowry of his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. The princess is well known for being in 1656 the main character of the Meninas of Velazquez. So this diamond is a contemporary of the royal glory of the Koh-I-Noor, the Regent and the Orlov. Entered in the Bavarian royal family by a marriage in 1722, it was then known as Blaue Wittelsbacher.
It is found twice at Christie's: in 1931 at the sale of the crown jewellery of Bavaria, and now in preparation for the sale of December 10 in London.
Christie's does not give a price in its release, but the Telegraph of Nov. 2 indicates that experts believe it could fetch £ 10 million.
POST SALE COMMENTS
An outstanding result for the most exciting lot of the year.
The Wittelsbach diamond was sold £ 16.4 million including buyer's premium.
Christie's announced that it is the highest recorded auction price for a jewel.
My opinion is that this changes nothing in my previous remarks on the new challenge, at the end of the year, for selling color diamonds. Those that are both unique and prestigious continue to make excellent performance.
Unlike my usual practice, I put a link to the catalog page of this historic lot.
Question raised by a WORLDAUCTION member :
I wonder how the value was assigned based on weight, size, clarity, color, etc. I am also interested if a breakdown is possible with the art and skill that went into finishing. It would seem this diamond with it's history would be valued even higher. A terrific gift to a special person.
Do you think timing in the offer so near the holidays may have driven up the price for the diamond? Or was this essentially assured without much competition?
Proposed answer :
I have no doubt that the royal history made the price. The fact that only one other diamond of same colour and size is known in the world helped much.
I do not think that the cut and clarity had a role in this result.
It is a historic piece, contemporary to the Koh-I-Noor. I am sure that the price was not affected by the auction date, excepted the fact that top jewelry auctions in London and New York come generally in December (after Geneva and Hong Kong sales).
Christie's had not published their estimate, but the market had told about 10 M£. For sure, reaching 16.4 M£ (including fees) was the result of much competition.
(later)
We have some additional information through the press today.
Christie's spokeswoman said the price nearly doubled its pre-sale estimate (Christie's had not published that estimate).
The previous top price for a diamond at auction was $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995 in Switzerland. Converted into US currency, the price of the Wittelsbach diamond is 24.3 M$.
Christie's provided the buyer's name in a press release : Graff Diamonds.
Its image before being recut by Graff is shared by Wikimedia :
This Indian greyish-blue diamond weighing 35.56 carat of VS2 clarity is chosen in 1664 by King Philip IV of Spain to enter the dowry of his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. The princess is well known for being in 1656 the main character of the Meninas of Velazquez. So this diamond is a contemporary of the royal glory of the Koh-I-Noor, the Regent and the Orlov. Entered in the Bavarian royal family by a marriage in 1722, it was then known as Blaue Wittelsbacher.
It is found twice at Christie's: in 1931 at the sale of the crown jewellery of Bavaria, and now in preparation for the sale of December 10 in London.
Christie's does not give a price in its release, but the Telegraph of Nov. 2 indicates that experts believe it could fetch £ 10 million.
POST SALE COMMENTS
An outstanding result for the most exciting lot of the year.
The Wittelsbach diamond was sold £ 16.4 million including buyer's premium.
Christie's announced that it is the highest recorded auction price for a jewel.
My opinion is that this changes nothing in my previous remarks on the new challenge, at the end of the year, for selling color diamonds. Those that are both unique and prestigious continue to make excellent performance.
Unlike my usual practice, I put a link to the catalog page of this historic lot.
Question raised by a WORLDAUCTION member :
I wonder how the value was assigned based on weight, size, clarity, color, etc. I am also interested if a breakdown is possible with the art and skill that went into finishing. It would seem this diamond with it's history would be valued even higher. A terrific gift to a special person.
Do you think timing in the offer so near the holidays may have driven up the price for the diamond? Or was this essentially assured without much competition?
Proposed answer :
I have no doubt that the royal history made the price. The fact that only one other diamond of same colour and size is known in the world helped much.
I do not think that the cut and clarity had a role in this result.
It is a historic piece, contemporary to the Koh-I-Noor. I am sure that the price was not affected by the auction date, excepted the fact that top jewelry auctions in London and New York come generally in December (after Geneva and Hong Kong sales).
Christie's had not published their estimate, but the market had told about 10 M£. For sure, reaching 16.4 M£ (including fees) was the result of much competition.
(later)
We have some additional information through the press today.
Christie's spokeswoman said the price nearly doubled its pre-sale estimate (Christie's had not published that estimate).
The previous top price for a diamond at auction was $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995 in Switzerland. Converted into US currency, the price of the Wittelsbach diamond is 24.3 M$.
Christie's provided the buyer's name in a press release : Graff Diamonds.
Its image before being recut by Graff is shared by Wikimedia :
1805 the Barruso portraits by Goya
2023 SOLD for $ 16.4M by Christie's
The burguesia is emerging at the turn of the 19th century. The wealthy bourgeois desire to live like new aristocrats.
Francisco Goya was appointed in 1789 First Court painter to the King. From 1804 he accepts bourgeois sitters for his business. Don Salvador Barruso was a textile merchant involved with the Royal Factories at Talavera.
Don Salvador commissions to Goya in 1805 the portraits of his wife and daughter, which are executed as a pair of oils on canvas of same size, 105 x 84 cm.
It is usual in such pairs to attribute the left picture to the most important character. Here the left is the still childish Maria, nearly fifteen year old. Both are seated, and dressed in the French high waisted fashion of that time. Maria has on her lap a pet bichon dog, a symbol of fidelity. Under the protection of her mother, she is featured as ready for wedding. She will marry two years later and die after childbirth in 1810.
The scarcity of this pair is the featuring of a mother and daughter as pendants, but it is remarkable by the extreme skill of Goya, rightly considered at that time as a worthy successor to Raphael.
The tightly woven canvas was smoothed with a bright brick colored primer enabling to paint in very thin layers. No underdrawing is revealed in infra red reflectography. A painted sketch had dried before the final layer was applied. The surface is remaining pristine.
Fortunately the pair has not been separated. It was sold for $ 16.4M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 138.
Francisco Goya was appointed in 1789 First Court painter to the King. From 1804 he accepts bourgeois sitters for his business. Don Salvador Barruso was a textile merchant involved with the Royal Factories at Talavera.
Don Salvador commissions to Goya in 1805 the portraits of his wife and daughter, which are executed as a pair of oils on canvas of same size, 105 x 84 cm.
It is usual in such pairs to attribute the left picture to the most important character. Here the left is the still childish Maria, nearly fifteen year old. Both are seated, and dressed in the French high waisted fashion of that time. Maria has on her lap a pet bichon dog, a symbol of fidelity. Under the protection of her mother, she is featured as ready for wedding. She will marry two years later and die after childbirth in 1810.
The scarcity of this pair is the featuring of a mother and daughter as pendants, but it is remarkable by the extreme skill of Goya, rightly considered at that time as a worthy successor to Raphael.
The tightly woven canvas was smoothed with a bright brick colored primer enabling to paint in very thin layers. No underdrawing is revealed in infra red reflectography. A painted sketch had dried before the final layer was applied. The surface is remaining pristine.
Fortunately the pair has not been separated. It was sold for $ 16.4M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 138.
1913 Violon et Guitare by Juan Gris
2010 SOLD 28.6 M$ including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Juan Gris is close to the artists who develop Cubism : Braque, Léger, Metzinger. He first earns his living with satirical drawings for magazines. In 1911 he begins to paint in oil. Kahnweiler signs in 1913 a contract by which he buys all the current and future work of this young artist, as he had done previously with Braque, Picasso and Léger.
Juan can now devote himself to his art with a freer spirit. He stays in Céret from August to November 1913, without crossing the border because he had escaped his military service and was considered a deserter in his native country.
The choice of Céret is not by chance : Picasso conceived Cubism in that village with Braque in 1911 and was staying there for the third consecutive summer. Juan declares himself as a disciple of Pablo and tries to claim to anyone all the secrets of Cubism. Very annoyed, Picasso avoids this overly enthusiastic young man.
Yet Juan is also an innovator. His works painted in Céret offer the transition between analytical cubism, defined as a flattening of forms, and synthetic cubism, by which objects receive again identifiable contours and bright colors.
On November 3, 2010, Christie's sold for $ 28.6M including premium Violon et Guitare, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm painted by Juan Gris in Céret in September 1913, lot 23.
Kahnweiler is satisfied with Gris's progress and Picasso can no longer ignore his rival, while maintaining his unilateral animosity. Picasso wanted to be seen as the leader of this cubism which indeed could only appeal the theorists. Shortly afterward Picasso, Braque and Gris will try simultaneously but in vain to save the analytical cubism by inserting on their canvases some newspaper clippings, ultimate avatars of the destruction of perspective.
Juan can now devote himself to his art with a freer spirit. He stays in Céret from August to November 1913, without crossing the border because he had escaped his military service and was considered a deserter in his native country.
The choice of Céret is not by chance : Picasso conceived Cubism in that village with Braque in 1911 and was staying there for the third consecutive summer. Juan declares himself as a disciple of Pablo and tries to claim to anyone all the secrets of Cubism. Very annoyed, Picasso avoids this overly enthusiastic young man.
Yet Juan is also an innovator. His works painted in Céret offer the transition between analytical cubism, defined as a flattening of forms, and synthetic cubism, by which objects receive again identifiable contours and bright colors.
On November 3, 2010, Christie's sold for $ 28.6M including premium Violon et Guitare, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm painted by Juan Gris in Céret in September 1913, lot 23.
Kahnweiler is satisfied with Gris's progress and Picasso can no longer ignore his rival, while maintaining his unilateral animosity. Picasso wanted to be seen as the leader of this cubism which indeed could only appeal the theorists. Shortly afterward Picasso, Braque and Gris will try simultaneously but in vain to save the analytical cubism by inserting on their canvases some newspaper clippings, ultimate avatars of the destruction of perspective.
1914 Invention of the Mixed Media
2018 SOLD for $ 32M including premium
The first cubism which is called analytical cubism is a search for the integration of the volume of objects within a flat surface. Led from 1910 by Picasso and Braque soon followed by Juan Gris, this technique leads to an explosion of forms that hinders the readability. Perspective and even color become non-existent or secondary.
This hermetic art does not satisfy its own inventor Picasso. In 1912 he sticks real ordinary materials in a composition : ropes and oilcloth. Curiously he does not exhibit this first experience that nevertheless launches the cubist collages. Braque, Picasso himself and Gris continue this exploration of a new artistic language conducive to show the everyday surroundings of table settings and still lifes.
The collage of newspaper clippings is a basic element of the new compositions. Easy to simulate also with the brush, the piece does not break the coherence of the work. It draws the attention of the viewer who seeks some meaning to the words in the context of the image, long before the Dada and Merz revolutions. It is also a fun method to date an artwork.
From December 1913 Juan Gris is the champion of this new evolution of cubism which finally retrieves perspective and color while respecting the primary objective of assimilating the represented object and its support. In the following months Malevich reaches the most extreme abstract art : the uselessness of the image in its support is another seminal advance of modernism.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 2 La table de musicien, oil, gouache, pencil and collage of paper on canvas 82 x 60 cm made by Gris in May 1914.
The table is the support of the arrangement. It is shown at an angle in an aerial view. In a subtle balance the collages participate in three different ways : the newspaper on the table, the wall paper and the stylized musical staves drawn on a white paper. The perspective effect allows the drawings of bottle and violin to overlap the painted and glued areas. Transparency effects disrupt the surfaces.
Executed in the following month in a similar technique, a 46 x 27 cm artwork titled Tabac, journal et bouteille de vin rosé was sold for $ 8.8M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013.
The war stops this playful phase when Kahnweiler with whom Gris was in contract in Paris is obliged to leave for Switzerland. In the following year Gris gives up his mixed technique and returns to oil on canvas with brilliantly colored compositions that imitate his collages. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux, 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2014.
This hermetic art does not satisfy its own inventor Picasso. In 1912 he sticks real ordinary materials in a composition : ropes and oilcloth. Curiously he does not exhibit this first experience that nevertheless launches the cubist collages. Braque, Picasso himself and Gris continue this exploration of a new artistic language conducive to show the everyday surroundings of table settings and still lifes.
The collage of newspaper clippings is a basic element of the new compositions. Easy to simulate also with the brush, the piece does not break the coherence of the work. It draws the attention of the viewer who seeks some meaning to the words in the context of the image, long before the Dada and Merz revolutions. It is also a fun method to date an artwork.
From December 1913 Juan Gris is the champion of this new evolution of cubism which finally retrieves perspective and color while respecting the primary objective of assimilating the represented object and its support. In the following months Malevich reaches the most extreme abstract art : the uselessness of the image in its support is another seminal advance of modernism.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 2 La table de musicien, oil, gouache, pencil and collage of paper on canvas 82 x 60 cm made by Gris in May 1914.
The table is the support of the arrangement. It is shown at an angle in an aerial view. In a subtle balance the collages participate in three different ways : the newspaper on the table, the wall paper and the stylized musical staves drawn on a white paper. The perspective effect allows the drawings of bottle and violin to overlap the painted and glued areas. Transparency effects disrupt the surfaces.
Executed in the following month in a similar technique, a 46 x 27 cm artwork titled Tabac, journal et bouteille de vin rosé was sold for $ 8.8M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013.
The war stops this playful phase when Kahnweiler with whom Gris was in contract in Paris is obliged to leave for Switzerland. In the following year Gris gives up his mixed technique and returns to oil on canvas with brilliantly colored compositions that imitate his collages. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux, 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2014.
#AuctionUpdate ‘La table de musician’ by #JuanGris auctions for $31,812,500. https://t.co/kjMtJ5yMWN pic.twitter.com/B4bOAYDloe
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 8, 2018
March 1915 Nature Morte à la Nappe à Carreaux by Gris
2014 SOLD for £ 35M by Christie's
The Cubism of Juan Gris experienced a rapid and powerful development. At first, the analysis of forms is deconstructing the figurative subject. The loss of the third dimension leads to collages.
In 1915, the art of Gris suddenly separates from Picasso and Braque. Gris gathers the objects of his everyday life. Arranged on the table, they make up his universe. Outside, in Paris, it is war. His objects are playing to constitute a new theater, like Cézanne's apples or Arcimboldo's vegetables.
In this sense, Gris is a precursor of surrealism. Painted in March 1915, Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux is a complex and colored composition, where the arrangement in a triangle forms a mask over the comforting support of the tabletop.
Times are hard for Juan Gris in the wartime Paris of 1915. His German dealer Kahnweiler had to flee to Bern and cannot support him directly. Being in civilian attire while the young men are serving on the front, he is booed by the Parisians when walking by the streets. His output is prolific, for earning his life.
The Galerie L'Effort Moderne of Léonce Rosenberg took over Kahnweiler for Gris in early 1915. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux was acquired by Rosenberg.
This oil on canvas 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M from a lower estimate of £ 12M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 9. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In 1915, the art of Gris suddenly separates from Picasso and Braque. Gris gathers the objects of his everyday life. Arranged on the table, they make up his universe. Outside, in Paris, it is war. His objects are playing to constitute a new theater, like Cézanne's apples or Arcimboldo's vegetables.
In this sense, Gris is a precursor of surrealism. Painted in March 1915, Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux is a complex and colored composition, where the arrangement in a triangle forms a mask over the comforting support of the tabletop.
Times are hard for Juan Gris in the wartime Paris of 1915. His German dealer Kahnweiler had to flee to Bern and cannot support him directly. Being in civilian attire while the young men are serving on the front, he is booed by the Parisians when walking by the streets. His output is prolific, for earning his life.
The Galerie L'Effort Moderne of Léonce Rosenberg took over Kahnweiler for Gris in early 1915. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux was acquired by Rosenberg.
This oil on canvas 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M from a lower estimate of £ 12M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 9. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
,_oil_on_canvas,_116.5_x_89.3_cm.jpg)
March 1915 Livre, Pipe et Verres by Gris
2008 SOLD for $ 21M by Christie's
An oil on canvas 73 x 95 cm painted by Juan Gris in March 1915 is titled in French "Livre, pipe et verres" (book, pipe and glasses).
In a Cubism inspired from Picasso and Braque, it is figurative. On an entablature where plans are entangled by the subtlety of color, an open book in the foreground contrasts by its sharpness and clarity. Seen from far away, it seems to be possible to read it, but when we come nearer we see that all lines of the book are scratched.
The artist seeks to represent a spatial effect that collages did not enable him to obtain. His perspective is made of tilted and angled semi-transparent planes, stacked one atop another in trompe l'oeil. The raised cover of the open book provides an additional graphic strength.
It was sold for $ 21M from a lower estimate of $ 12.5M Christie's on November 6, 2008, lot 7.
In a Cubism inspired from Picasso and Braque, it is figurative. On an entablature where plans are entangled by the subtlety of color, an open book in the foreground contrasts by its sharpness and clarity. Seen from far away, it seems to be possible to read it, but when we come nearer we see that all lines of the book are scratched.
The artist seeks to represent a spatial effect that collages did not enable him to obtain. His perspective is made of tilted and angled semi-transparent planes, stacked one atop another in trompe l'oeil. The raised cover of the open book provides an additional graphic strength.
It was sold for $ 21M from a lower estimate of $ 12.5M Christie's on November 6, 2008, lot 7.
1915 Le Pot de Géranium by Gris
2007 SOLD for $ 18.5M by Christie's
Le Pot de Géranium, oil on canvas 81 x 60 cm was painted in July 1915 by Juan Gris in the same style and complex perspective as the Livre, pipe et verres executed three months earlier.
A folded edition of Le Figaro is in the foreground. This newspaper symbolizes the art of collage that Picasso and Gris practiced in the previous year.
Le Pot de Géranium was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 14M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 59.
A folded edition of Le Figaro is in the foreground. This newspaper symbolizes the art of collage that Picasso and Gris practiced in the previous year.
Le Pot de Géranium was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 14M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 59.
1914-1915 Juan Gris opens the Book of the World
2012 SOLD 10.3 M£ including premium
Cubism was the most fertile source of modern art, capable of producing completely opposite trends such as Suprematism and Surrealism.
In 1914, Picasso and Gris tried the techniques of collage. They quickly appreciated that the loss of perspective was antagonistic to the will of the artist to express his vision of the world.
Titled Le Livre, an oil on canvas by Juan Gris, 73 x 60 cm, is perhaps his first work of the following year, 1915. Gris wants that his art is no more limited to a raw accumulation of objects, for creating sensations. He puts on the table an open book and a bottle of wine : knowledge and fun.
The wine is readable, it is one of the best Burgundies. The book is not readable, and you will find therein what you are seeking. It is curiously barred with a colored crease, reminiscent of the period of collages. The perspective came back, especially bold. The message allows multiple interpretations: Gris is already quite close to the future spirit of the Surrealists.
This key work of Gris art is estimated £ 12M, for sale on February 7 in London by Christie's. Here is the link to the catalog.
Another painting made in the same year on a similar theme, slightly larger with a somewhat more complex composition, was sold for $ 21M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2008. It had been discussed in this group.
Dada was created in 1916, but it is indeed by evoking Picasso that Apollinaire coined the word "surréaliste" in 1917. The moods of Juan Gris had a significant role in the development of the new languages of art.
POST SALE COMMENT
This historically important painting was sold £ 10.3 million including premium. It did not meet its estimate.
In 1914, Picasso and Gris tried the techniques of collage. They quickly appreciated that the loss of perspective was antagonistic to the will of the artist to express his vision of the world.
Titled Le Livre, an oil on canvas by Juan Gris, 73 x 60 cm, is perhaps his first work of the following year, 1915. Gris wants that his art is no more limited to a raw accumulation of objects, for creating sensations. He puts on the table an open book and a bottle of wine : knowledge and fun.
The wine is readable, it is one of the best Burgundies. The book is not readable, and you will find therein what you are seeking. It is curiously barred with a colored crease, reminiscent of the period of collages. The perspective came back, especially bold. The message allows multiple interpretations: Gris is already quite close to the future spirit of the Surrealists.
This key work of Gris art is estimated £ 12M, for sale on February 7 in London by Christie's. Here is the link to the catalog.
Another painting made in the same year on a similar theme, slightly larger with a somewhat more complex composition, was sold for $ 21M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2008. It had been discussed in this group.
Dada was created in 1916, but it is indeed by evoking Picasso that Apollinaire coined the word "surréaliste" in 1917. The moods of Juan Gris had a significant role in the development of the new languages of art.
POST SALE COMMENT
This historically important painting was sold £ 10.3 million including premium. It did not meet its estimate.
1929 The Two Husbands of Gala
2011 SOLD 13.5 M£ including premium
Young Surrealists were keen of their own life. These intellectuals seek their own mode of expression, become friends, often quarrel. The shadow of Freud's theories is hovering behind their research, proving that even their craziest sexual fantasies may be the subject of study, poetry and art.
In 1929, Luis Buñuel is the master of surrealist movies. "Un Chien Andalou" is on the theme of a dream made by one of his young countrymen with an especially exalted sensitivity, Salvador Dali.
Visiting Paris at this time, Dali was very proud to attract the attention of Eluard, one of the leaders of the surrealist poetry. On the same year, Eluard and his wife will be hosted by Dali in Cadaques, a journey that will be of great importance in the history of art.
Dali makes the surrealist portrait of Eluard. This handsome young man of 34 is seen in bust, flying over a barren landscape that is already Dalinian. He is flanked and surrounded by symbols, including a small sleepy head which personifies the dream of the artist. One can spend much time looking for the real meaning of the lion head, the hollow mask, the crushed insects and the woman's hands. Dali delights in a hermetism no one else could decipher.
The portrait of Eluard by Dali, an oil on board 35 x 25 cm, is estimated £ 3.5 million, for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 10. It is illustrated in a post shared by Bloomberg.
Dali went on long walks with Helena, the wife of Eluard who gave her the muse name Gala. The artist senses that he is meeting the woman he had dreamed. Dali and Gala will live together for ever.
POST SALE COMMENT
Surrealism is in the spotlight this year in the London auctions. The portrait of Eluard is both a work dating from the spirited youth of Dali and a masterpiece combining the myths and symbols of the Dalinian universe. Despite its small size, it got an amazing result: £ 13.5 million including premium.
In 1929, Luis Buñuel is the master of surrealist movies. "Un Chien Andalou" is on the theme of a dream made by one of his young countrymen with an especially exalted sensitivity, Salvador Dali.
Visiting Paris at this time, Dali was very proud to attract the attention of Eluard, one of the leaders of the surrealist poetry. On the same year, Eluard and his wife will be hosted by Dali in Cadaques, a journey that will be of great importance in the history of art.
Dali makes the surrealist portrait of Eluard. This handsome young man of 34 is seen in bust, flying over a barren landscape that is already Dalinian. He is flanked and surrounded by symbols, including a small sleepy head which personifies the dream of the artist. One can spend much time looking for the real meaning of the lion head, the hollow mask, the crushed insects and the woman's hands. Dali delights in a hermetism no one else could decipher.
The portrait of Eluard by Dali, an oil on board 35 x 25 cm, is estimated £ 3.5 million, for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 10. It is illustrated in a post shared by Bloomberg.
Dali went on long walks with Helena, the wife of Eluard who gave her the muse name Gala. The artist senses that he is meeting the woman he had dreamed. Dali and Gala will live together for ever.
POST SALE COMMENT
Surrealism is in the spotlight this year in the London auctions. The portrait of Eluard is both a work dating from the spirited youth of Dali and a masterpiece combining the myths and symbols of the Dalinian universe. Despite its small size, it got an amazing result: £ 13.5 million including premium.
1936 Nécrophilique Friendship from Gala Salvador
2012 SOLD 16.3 M$ including premium
Spring 1936 is a threat. The Spanish Civil War is now inevitable. Its "premonition" by Salvador Dali is famous.
Dali was appreciating that he must not any more belong to an artistic movement. Any of them, including surrealism, has the risk to curb his genuine hallucinatory passion. This is the time of the full development of his "paranoiac-critical method".
On May 2 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas, 55 x 65cm, entitled Printemps Nécrophilique, estimated $ 8M.
This artwork is primarily an extraordinary juxtaposition of hyper-realism and imagination. It is designed in two distinct areas. On the left, occupying one third of the image, a village near Figueras with its beach. On the right, the sand up to infinity. In between, a cypress escaped from Böcklin's Isle of the Dead justifies the threat and the title.
In front of the tree, a woman is standing. Her shadow enters the region of dreams. She is a long dress, altogether fabric and flesh. The head is replaced by a tuft of flowers.
This work is a tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli, who will be its first owner. She will be inspired by the painting to create a real dress.
The painting is signed Gala Salvador Dali, as if it was a postcard sent by the couple to Elsa, with the tuft of flowers as a bouquet, but where the words of friendship are replaced by the image and title announcing war and death.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Dali can be alternately extremely annoying or extremely fascinating as his message is more or less decipherable. The decoding of this painting makes it a masterpiece of the master: $ 16.3 million including premium.
Dali was appreciating that he must not any more belong to an artistic movement. Any of them, including surrealism, has the risk to curb his genuine hallucinatory passion. This is the time of the full development of his "paranoiac-critical method".
On May 2 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas, 55 x 65cm, entitled Printemps Nécrophilique, estimated $ 8M.
This artwork is primarily an extraordinary juxtaposition of hyper-realism and imagination. It is designed in two distinct areas. On the left, occupying one third of the image, a village near Figueras with its beach. On the right, the sand up to infinity. In between, a cypress escaped from Böcklin's Isle of the Dead justifies the threat and the title.
In front of the tree, a woman is standing. Her shadow enters the region of dreams. She is a long dress, altogether fabric and flesh. The head is replaced by a tuft of flowers.
This work is a tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli, who will be its first owner. She will be inspired by the painting to create a real dress.
The painting is signed Gala Salvador Dali, as if it was a postcard sent by the couple to Elsa, with the tuft of flowers as a bouquet, but where the words of friendship are replaced by the image and title announcing war and death.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Dali can be alternately extremely annoying or extremely fascinating as his message is more or less decipherable. The decoding of this painting makes it a masterpiece of the master: $ 16.3 million including premium.
