Salvador Dalí

SALVADOR DALÍ (Figueres, 1904–1989).
“Hommage à Léonard de Vinci: La Moissonneuse,” 1975.
Drypoint and color stencil on Arches paper, print no. 304/450.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
Printed by Tallers Rigal and published by Éditions de Francony and Éditions Graphiques Internationales, Paris.
Reference: “Field Catalogue Raisonné #75-8J”; “Michler and Lopsinger Catalogue Raisonné #819.”
Measurements: 36.5 × 51 cm (image area), 56 × 76 cm (paper)

The work belongs to the series “Hommage à Léonard de Vinci” (American Inventions), in which Dalí reinterprets machines and studies linked to Leonardo’s scientific imagination through his unique surrealist language. Here, a mechanical reaper appears among ears of wheat, fantastical figures, and small human scenes, blending technological invention, landscape, and a dreamlike vision.

The delicate lines of the drypoint technique are a hallmark of the work, contrasting with the areas of color applied using stencils, which lend the composition a luminous and theatrical quality. This fusion of technical precision, historical references, and irrational associations is characteristic of the graphic work Dalí produced during the 1970s.

Salvador Dalí was a central figure of Surrealism and one of the most renowned Spanish artists of the 20th century. His legacy is preserved primarily at the Dalí Theater-Museum in Figueres, managed by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, and his work is included in collections such as those of the Reina Sofía Museum and MoMA in New York.