shaina harkness: "the illustrations of dali"

September 7, 2016

dali & his illustrationsexplore the lesser known world of Dalí’s

commercial illustrations

dali and gala’s love of books

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Enthusiasts and connoisseurs of the

world of books

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leaping into illustration

“…[Dali] made the leap to illustrating books and magazines, which began with Les Bruixes de Llers (1924) and L’Oncle Vicents

(1926)”- p.343, Dali: a Life in Books

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“These two books are filled with vignettes and culs de lampe,

inspired in Noucentisme, with occasional touches of Cezanne and

Cubism.”

From Dali: A Life in Books, p.351, Ricard Mas10

noucentismeA Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that

originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception of

art almost opposite to that of avantgardists. In 1906, Eugeni d'Ors coined the term.

More of a Classicist approach

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from Payasos, pierrots y saltimbanquis: su dimensión autobiográfica y social en Picasso y Federico García Lorca Clowns, pierrots and acrobats: their autobiographical and social dimensions in Picasso and Federico García Lorca

Plaza Chillón, José Luis* Fecha de terminación del trabajo: marzo de 2012

Rafael Barradas’ “clownism” – erasing pupils from the eyes – it was his particular version of fauvism

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Example of Dali’s

“clownism”

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cityscape

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vignette of a tailor

cul de lampe or “tail piece”

an ornamental piece placed at the bottom of the page at the end of a

chapter or book20

illustrating in the 40s and

50s

relationship between the poetic and the pictorial, which occurs most famously in Horace's Ars Poetica

Latin phrase literally meaning "as is painting so is poetry.“According to the Gala-Dali Foundation in Spain,

Dali refers to this expression all the time.

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ut pictura poesis

©GIULIO GHIRARDIWORK

“…in any of these publications we can see how Dali put every care

into expressing his artistic world…”- Daniel Giralt-Miracle from Dali: a Life in Books

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“…with the illustrations he made for some of the great works of world

literature, he does more than simply immerse himself in the texts that

particularly interested and attracted him, for he continued to penetrate into

his own world, his own technique and iconography.”

- Monste Aguer Teixidor from Don Quixote de la Mancha Ilustrado por Salvador

Dali, p.7724

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Speak of the Devil, 1945 Doubleday

This is an anthology of sorts that includes writings focused on the

devil.

Involvement in the editing and publication

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“…Dali doesn’t stop at doing the illustrations but follows the publishing process very

closely…”

Before it goes to print, Dali writes “important this image must be reproduced backwards so

the back is in the right place. Careful! Don’t glue over the painted parts!”

from Dalilibre

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Dali iconography:

Eyes and ants

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The First Part of the Life and Achievements of the Renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha, The

Illustrated Modern Library, 1946

Dating from 1945 – 1946, Dali created 38 watercolors and

drawings for this version of Don Quixote.

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Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Dali’s interest in this book was most likely due to “the personality

of Don Quixote.” “Don Quixote and his madness…inspired the finest

Dali and thereby opened the door for him to apply his paranoic-

critical method…”From Don Quixote de la Mancha: Ilustrado Por Salvador Dali, p.78

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the windmill scene

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Dali iconography: eggs and familiar landscape

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Macbeth, 1946 Doubleday

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Macbeth, 1946 DoubledayRepeating pattern which is apparently the letters of Dali’s

name layered on top of each other.

From Salvador Dali Book Collector Blog

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Dali created 12 black and white

illustrations for this edition.

This illustration is found in Act IV, Scene 1. It is

the depiction of the 3 witches adding

ingredients to a cauldron.

Dali iconography: Crutch, keys,

spiral, drawers, double images

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421951 interview with BBC

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Essays of Michel de Montaigne, 1947 Doubleday

Portrait of Michel de Montaigne by Salvador Dalí

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Michel de Montaigne 1533-1592Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was one of the most significant

philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre.

Dali’s interest in this book could be due to the “philosopher’s great curiosity about all expressions of mankind.”

from Don Quixote de la Mancha: Ilustrado Por Salvador Dali, p.78

Dali created 37 works that illustrated his own selection from Montaigne’s

Essais.from Don Quixote de la Mancha: Ilustrado Por Salvador Dali, p.77

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Doubleday published a limited edition of 1000 copies in 1947 of which Dali signed all of them.

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'Of Democritus and Heraclitus'

‘Of Age’

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'That To Study Philosophy Is To Learn To Die'

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'The Force of Imagination'

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‘Of Vanity’

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The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, 1948 Doubleday

Benvenuto Cellini 1500-1571an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, draftsman, soldier, musician, and artist who

also wrote a famous autobiography and poetry.

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This book tells of his adventures in Italy and France, his relations with popes, kings and other

fellow artists.

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copies

Dali created 41 watercolors and drawings for the Autobiography of

Cellini.

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Visit with the pope and cardinals

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Discussing feuds and factions in his ancestor’s

history.

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Wine, Women and Words, 1948 - American hardback and softcover, British hardcover

Billy Rose’s memoirs

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Billy Rose 1899-1966was an American impresario, theatrical showman and

lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "Without a Song"

(1929), "It Happened in Monterrey" (1930) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).

He and Dali met while producing events at the 1939 World's Fair.

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Dali created 15 original full page illustrations for this book along with several

smaller illustrations.

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As You Like It, 1948 Bestetti Publishing1953 The Folio Society, London

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The publishing house included Dali’s drawings made for the staging and the costumes of the play.

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“My sets have been inspired by an autumnal, ammoniacal, thoroughly sterilized mimeticism…”

from Dali Shakespeare Visconti, p.9

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“…my costumes are morphological and, the

better to serve my viewers, even

prophetic.”

from Dali Shakespeare Visconti, p.9

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La Verdadera Historia de Lidia de Cadaques, 1954

Dali created 4 illustrations – cover,

frontispiece and 2 inside illustrations

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Dali describes Lidia in a manuscript held at the Foundation in Spain: “”Of fine bearing, and well-rooted in the living rock, in

the pure mineralogy…so that no gale could uproot her from Cap de Creus.”

THANK YOULidia was a Cadaques fishseller, who

believed she was the character of Teresa from Eugeni d’Ors’ book La Ben

PlantadaIt wasn’t until 7 years after Lidia’s death, that Eugeni d’Ors took any

interest in her, though Lidia had been writing him letters for years

He went to Cadaques and asked Dali if he would like to illustrate the book he

would soon begin writing about her.Dali was elated and immediately

agreed. He, at the time, was also planning to write a book about her. Dali knew Lidia from a young age, and used to listen to her stories. Later on, it was

she who sold Dali and Gala the fisherman’s cabin in Portlligat.

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lidia

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These commercial illustrations provided an

income while he and Gala were living in America, but

they also demonstrate Dali’s relationship with books, which

were seen as almost sacred objects. Through these book

illustrations and many others, Dali epitomizes the concept of

“ut picture poesis,” successfully merging the poetic and the pictorial.

THANK YOU