Salvador Dalí
1904-1989 | Spanish
La petite sirène II
Signed with the monogram 'DALI' (center right)
Oil, gouache and watercolor on paper
Few artists have reached the ethereal heights of Salvador Dalí. A true Renaissance man, his captivating blend of imagination, madness and technical precision reigns supreme. This original oil, gouache and watercolor titled La petite sirène II (The Little Mermaid) was the basis for a lithographic series published in 1966, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s tales. This series, full of color, whimsy and artistic imagination, is regarded as one of his most significant creations.
Infused with surrealist qualities and enchanting abstract use of watercolor, this work presents a vibrant cobalt-blue sea beneath a brilliant yellow sun. Two faceless merpeople frolic in the waves, while a gray figure with seaweed-like hair sits on the sandy ocean floor. This figure likely references the lost souls deceived by the sea witch, whose visage can be discerned in profile on the middle right of the composition. Dalí’s approach in this work recalls his famous illustrations for Don Quixote. Yet, it is distinguished by an ethereal palette that perfectly captures the magical fairy tale world he chose to inhabit in this watercolor.
Dalí was born in Figueras, in northern Catalonia. During the height of Dadaism in Paris, the young artist enrolled at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid but was expelled for challenging his professors and inciting a student rebellion. During this period, he encountered influential figures such as Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel. His artistic journey ultimately brought him to Paris, where he mingled with the avant-garde, including Pablo Picasso and the Surrealists André Breton, Paul Éluard, René Magritte and Max Ernst, before officially joining the Surrealist movement.
Today, he is remembered as one of the most legendary and significant contributors to Surrealism. His Persistence of Memory, with its melting clocks, is arguably the most recognizable painting of the movement. Two museums—St. Petersburg, Florida and another in Catalonia—are entirely devoted to his oeuvre. Other important works by the artist can be found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among many others.
Nicolas, Olivier and the late Robert Descharnes have confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Painted 1966
Paper: 22 1/2" high x 15 1/4" wide (57.15 x 38.74 cm)
Frame: 38 1/4" high x 30 1/2" wide x 1 1/2" deep (97.16 x 76.84 x 3.81 cm)
Exhibited:
Stockholm, Galerie Blanche, Akvareller och färglitografier ur HC Andersens sagor, 1967.
Provenance:
Gerschmans Konsthandel [Tore Gerschman], Stockholm
Galleri Gummeson, Stockholm
Private collection, Sweden
Private collection
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
- Materials
- Oil, gouache and watercolor on paper
- Size
- 22 1/2 × 15 1/4 in | 57.2 × 38.7 cm
- Rarity
- Medium
- Signature
- Signed with the monogram 'DALI' (center right)
- Frame
- Included
La petite sirène II, 1966
Salvador Dalí
1904-1989 | Spanish
La petite sirène II
Signed with the monogram 'DALI' (center right)
Oil, gouache and watercolor on paper
Few artists have reached the ethereal heights of Salvador Dalí. A true Renaissance man, his captivating blend of imagination, madness and technical precision reigns supreme. This original oil, gouache and watercolor titled La petite sirène II (The Little Mermaid) was the basis for a lithographic series published in 1966, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s tales. This series, full of color, whimsy and artistic imagination, is regarded as one of his most significant creations.
Infused with surrealist qualities and enchanting abstract use of watercolor, this work presents a vibrant cobalt-blue sea beneath a brilliant yellow sun. Two faceless merpeople frolic in the waves, while a gray figure with seaweed-like hair sits on the sandy ocean floor. This figure likely references the lost souls deceived by the sea witch, whose visage can be discerned in profile on the middle right of the composition. Dalí’s approach in this work recalls his famous illustrations for Don Quixote. Yet, it is distinguished by an ethereal palette that perfectly captures the magical fairy tale world he chose to inhabit in this watercolor.
Dalí was born in Figueras, in northern Catalonia. During the height of Dadaism in Paris, the young artist enrolled at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid but was expelled for challenging his professors and inciting a student rebellion. During this period, he encountered influential figures such as Federico García Lorca and Luis Buñuel. His artistic journey ultimately brought him to Paris, where he mingled with the avant-garde, including Pablo Picasso and the Surrealists André Breton, Paul Éluard, René Magritte and Max Ernst, before officially joining the Surrealist movement.
Today, he is remembered as one of the most legendary and significant contributors to Surrealism. His Persistence of Memory, with its melting clocks, is arguably the most recognizable painting of the movement. Two museums—St. Petersburg, Florida and another in Catalonia—are entirely devoted to his oeuvre. Other important works by the artist can be found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among many others.
Nicolas, Olivier and the late Robert Descharnes have confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Painted 1966
Paper: 22 1/2" high x 15 1/4" wide (57.15 x 38.74 cm)
Frame: 38 1/4" high x 30 1/2" wide x 1 1/2" deep (97.16 x 76.84 x 3.81 cm)
Exhibited:
Stockholm, Galerie Blanche, Akvareller och färglitografier ur HC Andersens sagor, 1967.
Provenance:
Gerschmans Konsthandel [Tore Gerschman], Stockholm
Galleri Gummeson, Stockholm
Private collection, Sweden
Private collection
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
- Materials
- Oil, gouache and watercolor on paper
- Size
- 22 1/2 × 15 1/4 in | 57.2 × 38.7 cm
- Rarity
- Medium
- Signature
- Signed with the monogram 'DALI' (center right)
- Frame
- Included
