Salvador Dalí i Domènech

SALVADOR DALÍ I DOMÈNECH (Figueras, Girona, 1904–1989).
“Don Juan Tenorio,” 1964.
Ink on official poster.
Dedicated to the actress Concha Velasco.
Framed with anti-reflective glass.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 32 x 22 cm; 60 x 50 cm (frame).
A unique testament to Salvador Dalí’s collaboration with the theater world, this work is linked to the production of José Zorrilla’s *Don Juan Tenorio* at the Teatro Español in Madrid in October 1964. The official poster, altered with ink and dedicated to actress Concha Velasco, combines the artistic value of Dalí’s autograph with the documentary significance of a theatrical production closely tied to his creative universe.
The artist’s relationship with the character of Don Juan dates back to 1949, when director Luis Escobar commissioned him to design the set and costumes for a new staging of the play. Premiered at the Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid, that project allowed Dalí to bring his surrealist imagination to the stage, reinterpreting Zorrilla’s romantic drama through a visual conception marked by a distinctly fantastical and symbolic character. The production returned to the stage in 1950 and was revived at the Teatro Español in 1964.
A painter and sculptor, Salvador Dalí was one of the most prominent figures of Surrealism. After his first solo exhibition in Barcelona in 1925, he moved to Paris, where he came into contact with the avant-garde and joined the Surrealist movement in 1929. Influenced by Freud’s theories, he developed his own artistic language based on dreamlike images, unusual associations, and the fusion of reality and imagination. As the creator of the paranoid-critical method, he achieved international recognition, which was cemented by his exhibitions in the United States. His legacy is preserved in major institutions, including the Dalí Theater-Museum in Figueras, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, and the Salvador Dalí Museum in Florida.