Artists in the News

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Artists in the News A R T I S T S I N T H E N E W S SALVADOR DALI You may be wondering, Salvador Dali is in the news? Dali, the surrealist artist, came to my mind this month as another example of the "unreal" looking "real". Our Spotlight Artist, Schatz, creates paintings without paint or brushes and Salvador Dali painted unreal reality. This month also marked the 76th anniversary of the devastation of the atom bomb on Hiroshima which had a profound effect on Dali--- inspiring him to announce in a 1951 news conference that he was the “First Painter of the Atomic Age” and dismissed all his works until that point as “merely evolution.” Uranium and Atomica Melancholica Idyll - 1945 - oil on canvas- Salvador Dali "The atomic explosion of August 6, 1945, shook me seismically,” Dalí declared. “...the atom is my favorite food for thought. Many of the landscapes painted in this period express the great fear inspired in me by the announcement of that explosion." In his 1945 painting, Uranium and Atomica Melancholica Idyll , the absolute destructive power of the atomic bomb is not conveyed through the usual, iconic symbol of the mushroom cloud, but rather through an accumulation of associative images, ranging from a stylized fireball-like explosion to American baseball players, warplanes as facial features, and elephants with insect-like legs, all of whom hit, drop or release deadly egg-shaped atom bombs. From Little League to "Little Boy" (code-name for the bomb) was not such a huge leap for Dalí’s Surrealist, elastic imagination. As Jean-Paul Sartre argued in his 1946 essay “War and Fear,” "...living with the threat of nuclear war was the beginning of the age of abstract mass murder. In other times, one risked one’s life against the lives of others; one saw one’s dead enemies in close proximity--- one could touch their wounds.” But today, atomic warfare means unleashing catastrophic destruction from afar. Without taking a risk, Sartre concluded,“one dies for nothing.” This form of existential angst is clearly discernible in Dalí’s melancholic painting. It references the living nightmare of the threat of instantaneous annihilation in a post- Hiroshima world. It is a somber work whose iconography remains indebted to Dali’s earlier Surrealist vocabulary of melting watches, burning giraffes and paranoiac- double images. It deftly illustrates the deadly and insular explosive force of energy released from indifferent and inhuman matter instead of man-to-man war combat. Dali succumbed to mysticism: The painting below is a portrait of Gala Nuclear Mysticism. The Hiroshima explosion Dali, his wife and muse. Her face is coincided with his own classicist explosion. Art composed of densely populated spheres, News commented: "The possibility cannot be representing atomic particles, which give ruled out that Dali will be giving more attention a distinct 3-D effect. The title refers to a to the conscious realm from now on than to the sea-nymph in Classical Mythology named unconscious. If this does indeed be the case, Galatea who was known for her virtue. nothing need prevent him from becoming the Galatea of the Spheres is one of the most greatest academic painter of the twentieth renowned paintings from Dali’s Nuclear century." Mysticism period. After the Second World War, Dali did not immediately return to Europe. The change from the psychoanalysis Dali to the nuclear physics Dali was making heavy demands on him. In his Mystical Manifesto, "Many of the scenes I have painted in this period express the immense fear that took hold of me when I heard of the explosion of the bomb. I used my paranoiac- critical method to analyze the world. I want to perceive and understand the hidden powers and laws of things, in order to have them in my power." Galatea of the Spheres -1952 - Salvador Dali I couldn't do a piece on Dali without including his most famous (and much-reproduced) work of art, The Persistence of Memory (1931) even though it was just 14 years before his "Nuclear Mysticism" period that's being featured in this article. I enjoy, as I hope you do, viewing and analyzing a great artist's works and Leda Atomica, 1949 - Salvador Dali how they evolved. Dali , true to his now "Nuclear Mysticism" and the discontinuity of matter, he incorporated a sense of levitation into his Leda Atomica. Just as atomic particles do not physically touch, so here Dali suspends even the water above the shore - an element that would figure into many other later works. Every object in the painting is carefully painted to be motionless in space, even though nothing in the painting is connected. Leda looks as if she is trying to touch the back of the swan's head, but doesn't do it. Many famous painters have The Persistence of Memory (1931) interpreted Greek mythology's "Leda and the Swan". But, What About the Man? He believed that life is the greatest form of art, so he lived his life boldly, with extreme eccentricity, long hair, dandy clothes and a stylish mustache. Read on to find out more about this unpredictable character and take a long look at a few images that you'll be surprised to see --- since most people are only familiar with his surrealism. He was Expelled from Art School Even though Dali studied for many years at the Special Painting, Sculpture and Engraving School of San Fernando in Madrid, he never graduated. That’s because, during his last exam at the school, he insulted a professor. He believed that the teachers weren’t qualified enough to test him. He was immediately expelled. But some good did come out of his college days---while there he met Le Corbusier, Einstein, Calder and Stravinsky, Landscape near Figueres - Boat - (1918) Age 14 Still Life- (1918) Age 14 (1910) (Age 6) Dali was influenced by Freud Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his theories were what inspired Dali to capture images of dreams and hallucinations. Dali never used drugs and only drank alcohol in moderation. Quote: "I don't do drugs, I am drugs." He accessed his subconscious through the state between being awake and sleep. He believed he was reincarnated Dali’s parents had a son (also called Salvador) who died extremely young. So, when Dali was born 9 months to the day after the death of the first Dali child, the family believed that he was a reincarnation of his older brother. Dali worked with Disney After making surreal films in Paris with director Luis Buñuel, Dalí Self-Portrait- (1922) Age 18 went to Hollywood. His paintings were used in a dream sequence in the 1945 Alfred Hitchcock film ‘Spellbound’ . A year later, he created a 10-minute film with Walt Disney called "Destino" - a beautiful trippy film that was not released until 2003. He was shunned by surrealists By 1930, Salvador Dalí had become a notorious figure of the Surrealist movement but he clashed with other members and was expelled from the group in 1934. Whether it was caused by his feud with Surrealist leader André Breton or due to his "counter- revolutionary activity” during WWII, we’ll never know. Even after leaving the Surrealist movement, Dalí continued to exhibit his work in international Surrealist shows. The melting clock keeps on ticking! .
Recommended publications
  • God and the Atom: Salvador Dalí's Mystical Manifesto and The
    ©Michael Taylor 2007 & 2016 God and the Atom: Salvador Dalí’s Mystical Manifesto and the Contested Origins of Nuclear Painting by Michael R. Taylor In December 1951, Salvador Dalí announced his newfound interest in the pictorial possibilities of nuclear physics and molecular chemistry at a press conference in London, where he declared himself to be the “First Painter of the Atomic Age” and dismissed all the works he had produced up until this point as “merely evolution.”1 The devastating destruction of the Japanese city of Hiroshima by a nuclear fission bomb with a yield of 15 kilotons – equivalent to the force of 15,000 tons of TNT - had forced Dalí to re-think both the subject matter and spatial complexities of his subsequent paintings. On August 6, 1945, at 8.15 am, a flash a thousand times brighter than the sun illuminated the sky above Hiroshima. It was immediately followed by a wave of incandescent heat and, a few minutes later, a ferocious hurricane that swept away everything in its path. The terrifying heat turned the city into a gigantic inferno, which in turn generated a violent wind followed by black rain. By mid-afternoon the entire city was destroyed. At least 80,000 people were killed in the explosion, and almost as many suffered serious, life-threatening injuries. In the weeks that followed many more were to die in terrible agony from the burns they had sustained after the initial blast, or from the effects of radiation, which caused internal bleeding, cancer, and leukemia.2 How could an artist like Salvador Dalí, whose work was based on an intuitive, paranoiac-critical understanding of the social and political events of his times, not be profoundly affected by the tragic events at Hiroshima, which had revealed the seemingly unlimited destructive capacity of nuclear weapons, as well as the near impossibility of protecting oneself against their pernicious effects, including the long-term consequences of ionizing radiation.
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  • 1 Dalí Museum, Saint Petersburg, Florida
    Dalí Museum, Saint Petersburg, Florida Integrated Curriculum Tour Form Education Department, 2015 TITLE: “Salvador Dalí: Elementary School Dalí Museum Collection, Paintings ” SUBJECT AREA: (VISUAL ART, LANGUAGE ARTS, SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, SOCIAL STUDIES) Visual Art (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards listed at the end of this document) GRADE LEVEL(S): Grades: K-5 DURATION: (NUMBER OF SESSIONS, LENGTH OF SESSION) One session (30 to 45 minutes) Resources: (Books, Links, Films and Information) Books: • The Dalí Museum Collection: Oil Paintings, Objects and Works on Paper. • The Dalí Museum: Museum Guide. • The Dalí Museum: Building + Gardens Guide. • Ades, dawn, Dalí (World of Art), London, Thames and Hudson, 1995. • Dalí’s Optical Illusions, New Heaven and London, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2000. • Dalí, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rizzoli, 2005. • Anderson, Robert, Salvador Dalí, (Artists in Their Time), New York, Franklin Watts, Inc. Scholastic, (Ages 9-12). • Cook, Theodore Andrea, The Curves of Life, New York, Dover Publications, 1979. • D’Agnese, Joseph, Blockhead, the Life of Fibonacci, New York, henry Holt and Company, 2010. • Dalí, Salvador, The Secret life of Salvador Dalí, New York, Dover publications, 1993. 1 • Diary of a Genius, New York, Creation Publishing Group, 1998. • Fifty Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship, New York, Dover Publications, 1992. • Dalí, Salvador , and Phillipe Halsman, Dalí’s Moustache, New York, Flammarion, 1994. • Elsohn Ross, Michael, Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities, Chicago review Press, 2003 (Ages 9-12) • Ghyka, Matila, The Geometry of Art and Life, New York, Dover Publications, 1977. • Gibson, Ian, The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí, New York, W.W.
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  • Salvador Dalí and Science, Beyond Mere Curiosity
    Salvador Dalí and science, beyond mere curiosity Carme Ruiz Centre for Dalinian Studies Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Pasaje a la Ciencia, no.13 (2010) What do Stephen Hawking, Ramon Llull, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, "Cosmic Glue", Werner Heisenberg, Watson and Crick, Dennis Gabor and Erwin Schrödinger have in common? The answer is simple: Salvador Dalí, a genial artist, who evolved amidst a multitude of facets, a universal Catalan who remained firmly attached to his home region, the Empordà. Salvador Dalí’s relationship with science began during his adolescence, for Dalí began to read scientific articles at a very early age. The artist uses its vocabulary in situations which we might in principle classify as non-scientific. That passion, which lasted throughout his life, was a fruit of the historical times that fell to him to experience — among the most fertile in the history of science, with spectacular technological advances. The painter’s library clearly reflected that passion: it contains a hundred or so books (with notes and comments in the margins) on various scientific aspects: physics, quantum mechanics, the origins of life, evolution and mathematics, as well as the many science journals he subscribed to in order to keep up to date with all the science news. Thanks to this, we can confidently assert that by following the work of Salvador Dalí we traverse an important period in 20th-century science, at least in relation to the scientific advances that particularly affected him. Among the painter’s conceptual preferences his major interests lay in the world of mathematics and optics.
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  • Exhibition Checklist
    EXHIBITION CHECKLIST Dalí: Painting and Film June 29 – September 15, 2008 Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Madrid Night Scene, 1922 Gouache and watercolor on paper 8 1/4 x 6" (21 x 15.2 cm) Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Brothel, 1922 Gouache on paper 8 3/16 x 5 7/8" (20.8 x 15 cm) Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Summer Night, 1922 Gouache on paper 8 3/16 x 5 7/8" (20.8 x 15 cm) Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 The Drunkard, 1922 Gouache on paper 8 3/16 x 5 7/8" (20.8 x 15 cm) Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Madrid Suburb, circa 1922-23 Gouache on paper 8 3/16 x 5 7/8" (20.8 x 15 cm) Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Portrait of Luis Buñuel, 1924 Oil on canvas 26 15/16 x 23 1/16" (68.5 x 58.5 cm) Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Portrait of my Father, 1925 Oil on canvas 41 1/8 x 41 1/8" (104.5 x 104.5 cm) Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 The Marriage of Buster Keaton, 1925 Collage and ink on paper 8 3/8 x 6 5/8" (21.2 x 16.8 cm) Fundación Federico García Lorca, Madrid Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Penya segats (Woman on the Rocks), 1926 Oil on panel 10 5/8 x 16 1/8" (27 x 41 cm) Private collection Print Date: 06/20/2008 01:22 PM Page 1 of 15 Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 The Hand, 1927 India ink on paper 7 1/2 x 8 1/4" (19 x 21 cm) Private collection Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904-1989 Apparatus and Hand, 1927 Oil on panel 24 1/2 x 18 3/4" (62.2 x 47.6 cm) Salvador Dalí Museum, St.
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  • Our Biggest Dali Art Show Ever... Dali 100 Yearscoming to San Francisco & Fort Worth
    Vol. 14 No. 1 Spring 200 4 FOR THE DALI AFICIONADOANDSERIOUSCOLLECTOR Our Biggest Dali Art Show Ever... Dali 100 Yearscoming to San Francisco & Fort Worth lans for our two-city exhibition commemorating Dali's 100th birthday are in full swing, with artwork, sponsors, special events and other details being updated daily. For the PPlatest news, be sure to check in regularly with our exhibit website atwww.Dali100.com or call 800-FOR-DALI (800-367-3254). We'll be exhibiting more than 600 pieces in San Access Hollywoodco-anchor Francisco and Fort Worth, and each of these events Nancy O'Dell will be our Special will be launched with a black-tie party featuring Celebrity Host at Dali 100 Years celebrities, extraordinary food and an exclusive guest Opening Night in San Francisco . list (watch for your invitation in the mail next month). INSIDE SAN FRANCISCO May 12-30 We're delighted to announce that Alma Comida, one of Nancy O’Dell San Francisco's top restaurants, will be providing to Host Dali in catering for our opening night party on Dali's birthday, San Francisco May 11th. The party will also feature a larger-than-life surreal birthday cake replicating Dali's Persistence of COVER Memory, created by the Cake Gallery of San Spain: Center Francisco. There will be surprise celebrities on hand of the Dali (see sidebar, this page), and we invite the very bold Universe among you to dress in a surreal costume. PAGE 3 The exhibit runs from May 12-30 at the San Francisco New Dali Concourse Exhibition Center, East Hall, in the heart of Museum the city's design district.
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  • Uma Leitura Do Espaço-Tempo No Filme Meia Noite Em Paris
    A imagem e o imaginário da cidade paradigmática: uma leitura do espaço-tempo no filme Meia Noite em Paris Valéria Cristina Pereira da Silva, Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Brasil Resumo: Paris é uma cidade emblemática e paradigmática por ser a mais difundida em imagens. A paisagem, o urbanismo, as formas arquitetônicas serviram de modelo para as cidades em todo mundo, inclusive no Brasil. Falar de imaginário da cidade, em qualquer contexto, implica em recorrer a esse espaço referencial. Trata-se de uma cidade que contém o tempo e um denso legado cultural que produziu igualmente uma rica representação. Woody Allen no filme Meia Noite em Paris captou a essência desse imaginário para o qual, o encontro com a cidade consiste em buscar uma época passada. Os de- graus do tempo emolduram a cidade e conformam sua paisagem, como afirma W. Benjamin (1989) os elementos temporais mais heterogêneos encontram-se lado a lado. Desse modo, o objetivo deste trabalho é, a partir da imagem da cidade apre- sentada no filme Meia Noite em Paris, analisarmos o sentido da temporalidade urbana na sua relação com o imaginário paradigmático da capital francesa, sobretudo, como irradiadora modelos e metáforas. O aporte teórico-metodológico utilizado para essa investigação é a fenomenologia da imaginação de G. Bachelard e a montagem benjaminiana, onde uma flanerie imaginária será empreendida nesta cidade-tempo forjada por W. Allen. Palavras-chaves: cidade, imagem, espaço-tempo, paradigma urbano Abstract: Paris are a emblematic and paradigmatic city cause it's most showing in images. The landscape, the Urbanism, the architectural forms are used as a model to city around the world, inclusively in Brazil.
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  • Occult Is ​Other​: What, Where, Who, Why
    Occult is Other: What, Where, Who, Why, How ​ ​ Occultus (the occult), according to Occultus: the hidden and macabre in literature and ​ film, is "that which is hidden, secret, mysterious, inexplicable, magic, alchemy, not readily ​ illuminated and not easily ascertained or understood" (Tobienne, “Occultus” 2). The occult, by nature, is not evil, but its practitioners are imbibed with a certain level of power that the mundane are not afforded, which makes their actions more subject to scrutiny. As Tobienne describes, “there is more to the occult than things that go ‘bump’ in the night” (Occultus, 2). ​ ​ Temptation, manipulation, and rejection of accepted mores are themes that prevail among the practitioners of the occult, simply because the occult itself falls outside the boundaries of society and all of its conventions. The presence of the occult weaves an intellectual underworld beneath the curtain of the ​ ​ common quotidian dimension. The occult is a mechanism of deceit--therefore, it can only be undone by knowledge. However, this presents a dichotomous conundrum: one may only become a part of the occult by gaining sight of it, but with this knowledge, the occult--that which is secret--becomes a candid facet of one’s reality. The occult, then, must be transitive: unique to every individual and ultimately forever changing as the fabric of their reality metamorphoses. This comprehensive essay seeks to understand the occult as the creator, guardian, and mentor of another realm which exists outside of the physical and spiritual peripheries of the familiar one as well as why it exists and how it is destroyed.
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  • Salvador Dalí D1
    Sketching the Artist: A Lecture on painter Salvador Dalí Part 1: 1904-1944 PART 1 Family mother: father: younger sister: elder brother: wife: Family Portrait (1920) Family mother: Felipa Domènech i Ferrès father: younger sister: elder brother: wife: Untitled Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (1920) Family mother: Felipa Domènech i Ferrès father: Salvador Dalí i Cusí younger sister: elder brother: wife: Portrait of My Father (1920) Portrait of my Father (1925) Family Portrait (1920) The Invisible Man (1932) Family mother: Felipa Domènech i Ferrès father: Salvador Dalí i Cusí younger sister: Ana María elder brother: wife: Figure at a Window (1925) Seated Girl Seen from the Back (1928) Portrait of My Figure at a Table (1925) Sister (1923) Family mother: Felipa Domènech i Ferrès father: Salvador Dalí i Cusí younger sister: Ana María elder brother (deceased as toddler): Salvador Galo Anselmo Dalí wife: Portrait of My Dead Brother (1963) Family mother: Felipa Domènech i Ferrès father: Salvador Dalí i Cusí younger sister: Ana María elder brother: Salvador Galo Anselmo Dalí wife: Gala (Helena Diakianoff Devulina) Paranoiac Metamorphosis of Gala’s Face (1932) Leda Atomica (1947-49) The Angelus of Gala (1935) Dalí from the Back Painting Gala from the Back Eternalized by Six Virtual Corneas . (1972-73) Spanish Spaces & Places Figueres: town in Catalonia Empordàn Plain: Cadaqués: Cap de Creus Port Lligat: exterior of Dalí Theatre- Museum in Figueres, Spain Spanish Spaces & Places Figueres: town in Catalonia Empordàn Plain: flat, fertile plain; frequented by Tramuntana Cadaqués: Cap de Creus Port Lligat: Rock ’n Roll (1957) Spanish Spaces & Places Figueres: town in Catalonia Empordàn Plain: flat, fertile plain; frequented by Tramuntana wind Cadaqués: fishing village east of F.
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  • The Madonna of Portlligat
    © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2018 Cat. no. P 660 The Madonna of Portlligat Date: c. 1950 Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 275.3 x 209.8 cm Signature: Signed lower right: SALVADOR DALI Location: Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka (Japan) Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí Page 1 of 7 | Cat. no. P 660 Provenance Sir James Dunn Lady Dunn Fernando Guereta, New York Minax International Co. & Inc., Tokyo Credi Saison,Tokyo Observations *The "I Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte” (1st Biennial of Latin American Art) was held in Madrid and Barcelona. In Madrid from 12th October 1951 to 28th February 1952, although we know that Dalí’s works were exhibited only during the shorter period of time we have indicated in the Exhibitions section. In Barcelona, during March 1952, although we know that Dalí’s works were exhibited for the longer period of time we have indicated in the Exhibitions section. Exhibitions 1950, New York, Carstairs Gallery, "The Madonna of Port-Lligat", 27/11/1950 - 10/01/1951, no reference 1951, Paris, Galerie André Weil, Exposition Salvador Dali, 22/06/1951 - 04/08/1951, no reference 1951, London, The Lefevre Gallery, Dalí, December 1951, cat. no. 1 1952, Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Phantastische Kunst des XX.Jahrhunderts, 30/08/1952 - 05/10/1952, cat. no. 70 1952, Madrid, Salas de la Sociedad Españoña de Amigos del Arte, 1º Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte *, 22/01/1952 - 24/02/1952, no reference 1952, Barcelona, Museo de Arte Moderno, I Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte *, March 1952, cat. no. 1 1954, Roma, Sale dell'Aurora Pallavicini, Mostra di quadri disegni ed oreficerie di Salvador Dalí, 01/03/1954 - 30/06/1954, cat.
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  • Rajgor Auction 54 Inside DR
    Highlights of the Auction 11 93 43 94 53 306 Bidding Methods Internet Bids - Get Registered on www.Rajgors.com (Internet Bidding closes on 23 September 2016 at 1:00 pm onwards) Fax Bids to +91-22-23870 647 (must be received on or before 23September by 2:00 pm) Postal Bids to the Regd. Office (must be received on or before 23 September by 2:00 pm) SMS Bids on +91 90040 82585 (must be received on or before 23 September by 2:00 pm) Email Bids to [email protected] (must be received on or before 23 September by 2:00 pm) Rajgor’s Upcoming Auctions Rajgor’s Auction 55 Rajgor’s Auction 56 Friday, 28 October 2016 Saturday, 5 November 2016 Dhan Teras Auction 6:00 pm onwards Internet Indore Maha-Mudra Utsav 2016 3:00 pm onwards Sajan Prabha Garden, Vijaynagar Square, Indore Auction 54 Nudes & Crowns The Manoranjan Mahapatra Collection of Artistic Nudes & Old World Crowns Part 2 Friday, 23rd September 2016 3.00 pm onwards In association with 14th Annual Coin, Banknote & Philately Fair 2016 VIEWING Monday 19 September 2016 11:00 am - 6:00 pm at Expo Center, Arcade, Tuesday 20 September 2016 11:00 am - 6:00 pm World Trade Center Wednesday 21 September 2016 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Cuffe Parade, Thursday 22 September 2016 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Mumbai 400005 At Rajgor’s SaleRoom Category Lots 605 Majestic Shopping Centre, Near Church, 144 JSS Road, (A) Artistic Nudes 1-361 Opera House, Mumbai 400004 Ancient Coins 1-16 Modern World Coins 17-239 Friday 23 September 2016 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Tokens 240-254 At the World Trade Centre, Mumbai Medals 255-307 Paper Money 308-361 DELIVERY OF LOTS Delivery of Auction Lots will be done from the Mumbai Office of the Rajgor’s.
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  • An Exploration of Salvador Dalí's “Society Portraits”
    ©Rev. Robert Keffer, 2021 Moguls, Matrons, and Aristocracy: An Exploration of Salvador Dalí’s “Society Portraits” from the 1940’s Through the 1960’s By Rev. Robert Keffer, OSB What is the Society Portrait? How do art critics and historians define the society portrait? The first definition that might come to mind may be pejorative: a slick, glossy and flattering depiction of an unattractive person, who happened to be blessed with money and pedigree. Many would consider the society portrait a hack job; something the artist creates to pay the bills and/or to gain entré into a higher level of society. This criticism has been applied especially to the portraiture styles of the late 19th century, and the continuation of their style to the current time: portraiture that is academic/realist, and follows mainly the techniques of John Singer Sargent and his imitators. Current revisionist criticism, however, will show that the society portrait can and often does have lasting artistic merit. Consider, for instance, the famous Portrait of Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough and Her Son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill (1906), by Giovanni Boldini. Grace Glueck in her New York Times article, “Society Portraits of Giovanni Boldini”, considers this famous work nothing more than “a frothy meringue… an almost erotic tableau in which a beautiful small boy sprawls against the slender body of his vivacious mother, who is regally ensconced on a Louis XV settee, and clad in a long splash of shimmering satin.”1 However, Ms. Glueck, in the same article, states that Boldini could also do work of real character with “his vibrant 1897 rendering of a world-weary Whistler, for instance, lounging against a chair back, his head supported by an eloquently ‘artistic’ hand and a wonderful self-portrait of 1911 in which, his portly little body half-turned to the viewer, he seems to regard with jaded eyes a rogue's gallery of subjects visible only to him.”2 Boldini aside, history refutes the theory that the society portrait has always been and always will be empty flattery and vain show.
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  • Dali Keynote
    Dali’s father, Salvador Dali i Cusi, was a notary. His mother, Felipa Domenech Ferres, was a homemaker. Salvador Domingo Felipe Dali was born in 1904. His older brother with the same name died a year before his birth. At five, Dali’s mother told him that he was a REINCARNATION OF HIS BROTHER. Dali believed this. At five, Dali wanted to be a cook. At six, Dali painted a landscape and wanted to become an artist. At seven, Dali wanted to become Napoleon (they had a portrait of Napoleon in their home). Dali’s boyhood was in Figueres (Fee-yair-ez), Spain, a town near Barcelona. This church is where Dali was baptized and eventually where his funeral was held. Summers were spent in the tiny fishing village of Cadaques (Ka-da-kiz). Dali loved the sea and the image of it shows up frequently in his paintings. Local legends suggested that the howling winds and twisted yellow terrain of the region in Catalonia would eventually make a man mad! With sister Ana Maria Later with his wife With poet friend Lorca Photos from Cadaques Dali attended drawing school. While in Cadaques, he discovered modern painting. His father organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in his family home. At 15, Dali had his first public exhibition of his art. When he was 16, Dali’s mother died of cancer. He later said that this was the “greatest blow I had experienced in life. I worshipped her.” Dali was accepted into the San Fernando Academy of Art in Madrid.
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