64. Galatea of the Spheres

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64. Galatea of the Spheres

Salvador Dalí

1904, Figueras, Spania - 1989, Figueras, Spania

Estimate:

EUR 250 - 450

Sold

EUR 600

cromolitografie, 43.5 x 32.5 cm, signed and dated bottom center, in black, "Dali, 1952"; signed bottom right, under frame, in pencil, "Dali"; numbered bottom left, under frame, in pencil, "MXXXIV/MM"; bottom left, under frame, publisher's stamp, "G. Dali"

Research information

The oil version of the work was conceived in 1952 and is exhibited at the "Dali Theatre-Museum" in Figueras, Spain.

Dali's interest in nuclear physics would particularly become evident after the first atomic bomb explosions in 1945. This work thus becomes representative of Dali's "nuclear mysticism" period. His passion for science and theories related to the atom or matter discontinuity will materialize through a series of dedicated artworks. This time, we deal with a continuous series of spheres suspended in space, with Galatea (in classic mythology and Ovid's "Metamorphose", she was a sea nymph) in the foreground. Representing boundless love, Dali's and Gala's relationship will materialize through a civil marriage that took place in 1934, followed, 24 years later, by the religious marriage. Dali's main muse and his entire universe, Gala, will attain a leitmotif status in the artist's work. He would sometimes sign many of his works under his wife's name. The fragmentation of the face, the repetition of the spheres and the three-dimensionality that gives a distinct note to the work become a hallmark of the artist's style.

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