Salvador Dalí – Metamorphoses

On Tuesday June 4th, a set 15 original Salvador Dalí gouaches will be dispersed by Artcurial during their Impressionist and Modern Art auction in Paris. These works were commissioned annually from the artist between 1959 and 1976 by Spanish pharmaceutical laboratory Hoechst Ibérica. The illustrations were used as company greeting cards. Also, they were exhibited for twenty years at the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation in Figueras, the artist’s hometown.

These visually strong drawings illustrate Dalí’s personal mixed medium technique. The ink, gouache, watercolor or collages are accompanied by a manuscript text from the artist on the represented theme. Each of the artist’s surrealist inspirations are portrayed, throughout his great premises: metamorphosis, the chrysalid, Daphné or Don Quixote. Since they were ordered by a pharmaceutical company, they mainly deal with nature and the benefits of medicinal plants.

 

 

Each gouache carries an estimate between €20,000 – 30,000, and up to €70,000 – 100,000. According to Bruno Jaubert, Director for Impressionist & modern Art at Artcurial “This gouache series intended for greeting cards is unique in genre, spanning nearly 2 decades. [ ] A tour-de-force between marketing and artistic creation in an inventive and provocative freedom that defines great masters.”

 

 

The set will travel across Europe to Artcurial’s additional offices during the Spring Selections, exhibited from 14th to 17th May in Munich followed by 22nd to 24th May in Vienna, before the auction in June.

 

 

Photos: ©Artcurial.