Salvador Dalí

SALVADOR DALÍ (Figueres, Girona, 1904 - 1989)
"Nude study, couple: standing man and reclining woman", ca. 1966-1967.
Graphite, colored airbrush and gold paint on Arches paper.
With handwritten inscription on verso: "Received directly from the artist the master Salvador Dalí. David Colombo."
Provenance: -Private collection, David Colombo, France.
Documentation: -Nicolas and Olivier Descharnes have confirmed the authenticity of the piece, ref. d6955_c1966. -Certificate of authenticity issued by Joël Barès, expert in modern art, dated Paris, September 23, 1982. -Certificate issued by Archives Descharnes, nº d6955.
Measurements: 38 x 56 cm. 67 x 84 cm (with frame).

This exceptional work on paper, executed by Salvador Dalí around 1966-1967, is a lyrical testimony of his constant research on the human figure and the dematerialization of form. In this period of maturity, Dalí moved away from orthodox surrealism to a more ethereal and experimental aesthetic, linked to his interests in science, spirituality and the transformation of the image.

The composition is articulated through a subtle dialogue between line and atmosphere. The graphite defines with almost spectral precision the presence of a standing man, barely insinuated in the left margin, and a reclining woman, whose anatomy seems to emerge and vanish in space. Dalí dispenses with an emphatic bodily description to concentrate on suggestion, the fragility of the stroke and the emotional perception of the form.

The technical application is particularly refined: the airbrush bathes the scene in a chromatic haze of pinkish, light blue and whitish tones, while the splashes of gold paint act like a cosmic rain, bringing luminous vibration and an almost alchemical dimension to the composition. Gold, recurrent in Dalí's imagery, can be understood here as a symbolic material associated with perfection, light and spirituality.

The work stands out for its evanescent character; the figures are not fully described, but suggested, inviting the viewer to complete the image from the look and imagination. For its technical delicacy, conceptual ambition and accompanying documentation, the piece is a remarkable example of Dalí's work on paper in the 1960s, focusing on the body, desire and the poetic dissolution of form.

Internationally acclaimed after the retrospective that the MOMA in New York dedicated to him in 1941, Joan Miró has won awards such as the Grand Prizes of the Venice Biennale and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Carnegie Prize for Painting, the Gold Medals of the Generalitat de Catalunya and of Fine Arts, etc. His work can currently be seen at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, as well as in important museums around the world, such as the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the MOMA in New York, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the National Gallery in Washington, the MNAM in Paris and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.