Salvador Dali
Faq's |
| A lot has been written
about Salvador Dali and Salvador Dali prints. Being the Father
of Surrealism and a true genius of his craft, Dali has been
emulated, copied, faked and forged many times over the years.
This Faq pag is intended as a simple checklist of do's and
don'ts when dealing with Salvador Dali prints. First of all
we are not recognized experts for Salvador Dali. A recognized
expert in a field is one who is recogized by the major auction
houses of the world as being an expert in that artist. We
offer this information as having dealt with Salvador Dali
prints for a number of years - these are some of our "rules
to go by." |
| 1. In reference to reference
guides. There are two references for Salvador Dali prints,
both of which are used to reference original Salvador Dali
prints. Both catalog raissone's go into forgeries as well.
In terms of ease of use, I like the Michler/Lopsinger better.
Each work is assigned a reference number and the prints appear
in chronological order. In terms of color pictures and a wealth
of information, the Albert Field guide is better. Albert goes
extensively into almost every aspect, although the information
could sometimes be better organized and looking up specific
prints can sometimes be quite a task. Both reference guides
will give precise information as to size of prints, watermarks,
edition size and also whether or not there are any known forgeries.
The information for the Salvador Dali reference guides is
as follows: |
| A. Michler/Lopsinger. Two volumes.
Vol. I - Catalogue Raissone of prints I , etchings and mixed
media prints, 1924-1980 and Vol. II - Catalogue Raissone of
prints II, Lithographs and Woodcuts 1956-1980. isbn 3-7913-1602-8,
3-7913-1279-0 |
| B. The Official Catalog of the Graphic
Works of Salvador Dali, by Albert Field of the Salvador Dali
Archives. Both references can be purchased or ordered from
Amazon or Barnes and Noble. |
| 2. In reference to watermarks.
Dali used a variety of different papers to publish prints.
As a general rule, if the watermark contains an infinity symbol
(sideways 8) then the signature on the print is not Dali's.
According to Salvador Dali, he never signed any infinity watermarked
paper. Two excellent books for Salvador Dali prints are the
Michler/lopsinger catalog raissone to Salvador Dali prints,
and the other is the Albert Field guide to Salvador Dali prints.
Neither is particularly expensive and if you plan on collecting
or selling Dali works, then they are a must have. The Field
guide is more in depth and the photographs are in color, The
michler/lopsinger guides assign an idividual reference number
to each work, which is nice. |
3. A good general rule for Salvador Dali
prints is that if the work is a print of an oil painting,
then it was not signed by Dali. Some of Dali's best paintings
were made into mass production prints, such as Christ of
St. John of the Cross. It doesn't make them less pretty
than they are, some of these works, sometimes called, "pre-signed"
are some of the prettiest Dali's on the market. But it does
make them not have a real signature. It simply means that
you need to know what you are buying and pay the appropriate
price for the work. A piece with a maybe signature should
cost a decorative price - not the price of a piece with
a real signature. |
The
information below relates directly to "The Divine Comedy,"
illustrated by Salvador Dali. |
History |
| The Divine Comedy by
Dante Alighieri remains today one of the pillars upon which
the European literary tradition has been built. Originally
titled simply Commedia, Dante's masterpiece was written at
the end of his life and finished just before his death in
1321. Presented here is Salvador Dali's interpretation of
the wonderful and intense imagery that Dante formed through
spinning a web of words both exciting and exhilarating. |
To celebrate the 700th anniversary
of Dante's birth, the government of Italy planned to issue
a special edition of The Divine Comedy. For this issue,
Dali created 101 watercolors between 1951 and 1960. In 1954,
La Libreria della Stato published a brochure with seven
of the paintings reproduced full size as lithographs, together
with sample pages of the text. The prints are 16 1/2 inches
x 11 inches with narrow margins. Due to the opposition these
prints created, the Italian government dropped the project
and postage stamps were issued instead. Several years later,
Joseph Foret, in Paris, who had previously published other
Dali suites such as Don Quichotte, started production of
the prints by wood engraving. Master engravers worked from
1959 - 1963 to carve 3500 separate wood blocks for the 100
prints. The Divine Comedy project was then taken over and
completed by Jean Estrade of Les Heures Claires. (See below
for edition information) |
French
Editions |
| The French and German editions of
The Divine Comedy were both published in France. |
Joseph
Foret Edition |
| Joseph Foret is responsible for the
deluxe edition of the Divine Comedy. The Deluxe edition of
the Divine Comedy consists of a total of 33 sets. Twenty-one
of the thirty-three sets are on Japon paper, the other twelve
are on BKF Rives paper. Out of the 12 sets, 2 were for the
artist and the other 10 were for named persons. The sets consisted
of the following: |
| Set "I" had 9 original
watercolors by Dali and 3 inked plates, a suite on silk of
the copper plate engravings, a suite on Rives of the copper
plate engravings, a suite on silk of the woodcut engravings,
and a suite of decompositions of one illustration. |
| Set "II and III" had 6
original watercolors by Dali and 1 inked plates, a suite on
silk of the copper plate engravings, a suite on silk of the
woodcut engravings, and a suite of decompositions of one illustration.
|
| Set "IV-VIII" had 3 original
watercolors by Dali and 1 inked plates, a suite on silk of
the copper plate engravings, a suite on silk of the woodcut
engravings, and a suite of decompositions of one illustration. |
| Set "IX-XXI" had 1 original
watercolors by Dali, a suite on silk of the copper plate engravings,
a suite on silk of the woodcut engravings, and a suite of
decompositions of one illustration. |
| These suites were presented in six
satin-covered slipcase boxes. Each "set" also contained a
color lithograph of the Danse or Les Servantes (1960), published
by Foret but not part of the book edition, a photographic
portrait of the artist by P. Almasy, a print on Lyon Satin
attached to an illustration and three copper plate engravings. |
Jean
Estrade - Les Heures Claires |
| The edition most familiar
with the market is the French edition of The Divine Comedy
published by Jean Estrade of Les Heures Claires, Paris. The
total edition size is 4765 sets. Due to some of the sets having
twos suites, there are a total of 5346 prints of each woodcut.
The sets contained the following: |
| Sets "1-15" had a suite
on Rives of the woodcut engravings and1 inked plate, a suite
on Rives of the copper plate engravings, a suite on Rives
of the woodcut engravings, and a suite of decompositions of
one illustration (being a total of six sets of decompositions,
one for each slipcase). The early sets of the Divine Comedy
were issued in 12 slipcases boxes rather than six. The extra
boxes held the extra suites of prints and decompositions.
I have seen both twelve uniform size boxes and also six thicker
than regular size boxes and six boxes that are about half
the thickness of the regular boxes. |
| Sets "16-165" had a suite
on Rives of the woodcut engravings and a suite on Rives of
the copper plate engravings, a suite on Rives of the woodcut
engravings, and a suite of decompositions of one illustration
(being a total of six sets of decompositions, one for each
slipcase). |
| Sets "166-515" had a suite
on Rives of the woodcut engravings and a suite of decompositions
of one illustration (being a total of six sets of decompositions,
one for each slipcase). |
| Sets "866-4765" had a
suite on Rives of the woodcut engravings. |
| Each volume is presented
in a slipcase. Two volumes for enferno in cream slipcases
with red swirling accent lines, two volumes for purgatory
in cream slipcases with purple swirling accent lines, Two
volumes for paradise in cream slipcases with blue swirling
accent lines. The woodcuts and French text are loose. I have
seen some sets where a master binder has bound the sets in
fine leather with gilt tooling (this binding was not as issued
but can be very suave nonetheless. |
| As for the watermarks, you will find
the following three instances. The woodcut can bear a BFK
Rives watermark, a Les Heures Claires watermark, or no watermark
at all. The watermarks appeared only twice per sheet of four
woodcuts, two out of every four are without a watermark. |
German
Edition: |
| The German edition of The Divine Comedy
was published by Les Heures Claires and was limited to 1000
sets. Out of the 1000 sets only 386 or so were completed.
Each print was matted in a paper sleeve. The prints bear watermarks,
(two of every four) and the only difference between these
woodcuts and the regular French edition is the addition of
a block signature. Each print, with the exception of Enferno
1 and Purgatory 9, which already bear a plate signature have
an added block signature in the image area. It is not clear
whether this edition is in addition to or part of the 5346
mentioned above. I have seen many of the higher tirage number
French sets with varying numbers of Block signed prints. I
have seen some sets with all of the prints bearing a block
signature (with the exceptions noted above), I have also seen
French sets with as few as five or six block signed prints
in place of the unsigned prints. Most of the French sets issued,
were issued unsigned or without the additional block signature. |
SIGNED
PRINTS |
An acceptable signed print (Whether in
black pencil or colored pencil) should be accompanied by
both a provenance (history) and some form of authentication.
Acceptable authentication is a letter from The Dali Archives,
Robert Descharnes, or a pencil signature verso by either
the publisher (Jean Estrade) or Albert Field. Another form
of acceptable authentication is the verifiable provenance
of having been sold through major auction at some time in
the past. The list above is not complete and should not
be taken as an absolute other than these are the only groups
who perform acceptable authentications. Know what you are
purchasing and ask questions. It is the sellers job to make
you feel comfortable with your purchase. Feel free to give
us a call - we are happy to tell you if a print is okay
based on the recognized editions. We are not recognized
experts, nor do we claim to be, but we have bought and sold
more Divine Comedy prints than most people will ever see.
If we are unsure or feel you would benefit from an authentication,
we will forward you to the recognized expert of our choice
where you can pay for an authentication of your work. |
IMPORTANT
NOTE REGARDING DIVINE COMEDY WORKS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET:
The Following information I felt I needed to list as I sell
quite a few real Divine Comedy woodcuts. |
| Just a note to all of our customers.
Please be aware that there are a number of images from the
Divine Comedy which have been reprinted. The question is how
to easily tell the difference between these modern reprints
and the original woodcuts published between 1960 - 1964. We
offer the following notes: |
To our knowledge, out of
the 100 woodcuts in the Divine Comedy suite, the following
modern reprints are readily available:
Enferno 06 Cerebus
Enferno 08 The Angry Ones
Enferno 25 The Centaur
Purgatory 20 Avarice and Prodigality
Purgatory 27 The Last Words of Virgil
Purgatory 33 Dante Purified
Paradise 04 Beatrice
Paradise 16 The Ancestor's Apparition
Paradise 17 The Divine Foreknowledge
Paradise 25 St. James and Hope
Paradise 03 The First Sphere
|
These reprints are on thin
paper, bear a facsimile or printed signature outside of
the image area, and usually bear a pencil number from an
edition of 500. The only Divine Comedy woodcuts that were
individually numbered also bear an original signature (Assuming
authentication of course). The reprints are referred to
as lithographs. The ORIGINAL Prints in the Divine Comedy
suite are Woodcuts NOT lithographs, etchings, serigraphs
or any other process. In reference to Divine Comedy prints
that bear a plate signature or block signature - The plate
or block signature MUST appear IN THE IMAGE AREA NOT OUTSIDE
THE IMAGE. Do not confuse the original woodcuts we offer
with modern reprints.
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