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Dali's Prints Private Preview

Date: 11-15 April, 2016

Time: 10am - 6pm

Welcome to visit during opening hours.

The original is an oil painting by Dali in 1945, the title provides a good description of the work.  Through this work Dali expressed his sadness and helplessness towards war and it’s destruction (the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War). This work has been kept at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueras, Spain until recently it is on loan for an exhibition in Shanghai (Nov 5, 2015 to Feb 15, 2016).

Dali’s title  provides a perfect description of the original work painted in 1976 . The painting was inspired by a Scientific American article Dali read about visual perception which investigated the minimum number of pixels needed to describe a unique human face. Dali was challenged by that question and set about making this portrait of Lincoln using 121 pixels.  Dali also dedicated this work to Mark Rothko, a painter Dali’s age who passed away in 1970.

The elephant, Dalí’s iconoclastic symbol of the future and one of his favourite images, is often depicted atop mosquito-like legs, emphasising the contrast between robustness and fragility, much like the contrast between the past and modernity.  The animal’s jewelled saddle symbolises wealth, and the dawn of a new era is announced by a flying angel, trumpeting success and prosperity.  Dalí’s elephant exemplifies every individual’s hope for abundance and good fortune in the future.

Beginning in the 1930s, Dali’s relationship started with the world of haute couture through his work with Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Vogue magazine. This even lasted throughout his lifetime. The remarkable Venus, posing in the stance of a “supermodel”, has been created with a head of roses, the most exquisite of flowers. Her face lacks definition, allowing the admirer to imagine any face he desires. On bended knee we observe a dignified gentleman, a “dandy” paying homage to this 20th Century muse.

In 1968 Dali created a series of 10 etching works based on the flower theme called  Flora Dalinae (FlorDali). Then in 1981 he based on the 1968 creations and created a series of color lithographs with similar theme, called FlorDali. Dali created the surreal version of the flower world.