The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí is an online digital publication dedicated to the definitive scientific identification and cataloguing of the works belonging to Dalí’s pictorial output between 1910 and 1983. The project is conceived as a work in progress and periodically updated and extended with the information contributed by the specialists at the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí and by other collaborating institutions and scholars.
The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí is the result of exhaustive interdisciplinary research, which set out to establish a definitive inventory of all the works belonging to Salvador Dalí’s pictorial output. This is, then, an exercise of attribution and for the time being does not envisage the aesthetic appraisal of the works.
Online digital publication means that this is a work in progress open to the ongoing addition and revision of information. It is very likely that, once published, its readers will submit new data and comments on particular works, and once these data have been analyzed and validated by the specialist team at the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí they are likely to be included in the corresponding entry in the catalogue raisonné.
The entries are accessed by means of the ‘search Button’, which allows the user to search by keyword, by the established title or other known titles of the work, by catalogue raisonné number, by a specific year or span of years and by collection, as well as by browsing by decade. The ‘Find’ option also allows access to the Index of collections containing works by Salvador Dalí.
Carlos Pérez de Rozas, Salvador Dalí pintant l'obra Gala Placídia al taller de Portlligat, c. 1952.
Work Team
Publication of the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí was carried out between 2004 and 2017, in several phases: the first phase covered the paintings from the years up to 1929; the second, to 1939; the third to 1951, the fourth to 1964 and the fifth and last up to 1983. Inevitably, the composition of the technical team has changed over the last 15 years, and the names of the people involved in the project since its origin are given below, together with the corresponding chronological stages.
The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí is the result of exhaustive interdisciplinary research, which set out to establish a definitive inventory of all the works belonging to Salvador Dalí’s pictorial output. This is, then, an exercise of attribution and for the time being does not envisage the aesthetic appraisal of the works.
Online digital publication means that this is a work in progress open to the ongoing addition and revision of information. It is very likely that, once published, its readers will submit new data and comments on particular works, and once these data have been analyzed and validated by the specialist team at the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí they are likely to be included in the corresponding entry in the catalogue raisonné.
The Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí was designed from the outset to be updated and modified in the light of the ongoing research carried out by the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí in compliance with its founding purpose, and as such is open to modification. The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí therefore reserves the right to make such amendments to the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí as it considers to be necessary, and in particular to add, modify or remove a work and / or its description when this seems appropriate. The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí cannot guarantee the contents of the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí nor accept responsibility for any loss or damage that may result from the use of the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí.
This work in progress, updated in 2017, has been undertaken in five phases, the first of which dealt with the paintings in oils and in tempera up to 1930. The second section covers the period up to 1939, the third to 1951, the fourth to 1964 and the fifth and last to 1983.
While the bulk of the information comes from the documents archives of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, this has been complemented by materials in the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg (Florida, USA) and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, who have generously made their archives available at all times, and further supplemented by the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the National Gallery of Scotland, the New York Public Library and other institutions possessing information on the artist and his work.
With regard to researches in private collections, the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings has enjoyed the cooperation of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and of the auction houses Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams, among other sources.
The scientific laboratories of the Conservation and Restoration Departments of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona have provided invaluable assistance in establishing technical data about which there has been some doubt.
The structure of the work process is as follows:
Works attributed to Dalí are examined, and where direct physical examination of a particular work is not possible use is made of original period photographs and the information provided by museums or private collectors. Where the available information on a given work is not sufficient to settle the question of authenticity beyond all doubt, it has not been included in the catalogue. This does not mean that it may not be attributed to Dalí, but simply that the current state of knowledge does not allow it to be affirmed with absolute certainty that the work is by the artist. Access to and study of objective data for the years 1940-1951 has proved particularly difficult, given that Salvador Dalí lived and worked in the United States throughout the period from 1940 to 1948.
The findings of the visual examination are checked against the available documentation, such as exhibition catalogues and related documents, period photographs or audio-visual material, as well as the information provided by the current owners of the work, whether private individuals or institutions, and this information is then cross-checked against a second source. In general, the documents archives of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí are the primary source, but other archives around the world are also consulted to provide supplementary information. For instance, the archives of the Abelló Museum in Mollet del Vallès were consulted with regard to works before 1929, while for works up to 1939 the archives of the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, which was Dalí’s gallery during his years in the USA, were consulted. For works up to 1951 research was done in several major archives in the United States, such as those of the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Public Library. The Dalí legacy deposited with the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía have facilitated the study of the works up to 1983.
We want to point out that throughout his artistic career, Dalí worked with associates who provided him with various degrees of assistance in the execution of his paintings. This practice was particularly important in the latter stages of the artist’s life, and above all in the 1980s.
User manual
The entries are accessed by means of the ‘search Button‘, which allows the user to search by keyword, by the established title or other known titles of the work, by catalogue raisonné number, by a specific year or span of years and by collection, as well as by browsing by decade. The ‘Find’ option also allows access to the Index of collections containing works by Salvador Dalí.
All the information in the various sections has been entered in accordance with the following criteria:
PRESENTATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK
Image
Wherever possible, a colour reproduction of the painting is provided. In some cases, more than one image is given in order to supplement the information.
In the case of the stereoscopic paintings, the order of presentation (left-right) in the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings is based on the bibliography, the existence of preparatory material, the artist’s own indications and examination of the work with a stereoscope.
Title
It is not unusual for a work to be known by more than one title. This catalogue raisonné gives precedence to the title by which the work was identified on its first exhibition, which appears in italics (with the Catalan translation in brackets, where appropriate). Other titles subsequently given to the work then appear in bold.
Where the title given to the work on its first exhibition is not known, precedence is given to the most commonly accepted title, and this appears in bold.
In the case of works corresponding mainly to the period 1976 to 1983 it has become clear that, although some of them were exhibited during the artist’s lifetime, the titles given are descriptive and often refer to the source of inspiration. The general formula ‘Untitled. After…’ has therefore been adopted, followed by the names of the work and the artist that provided Dalí with his starting point.
The titles of many of the works studied contain place names. These have been normalized in accordance with the Official Register of Catalan Place Names. For example, the form Portlligat is used, although the name was frequently written as Port Lligat in Dalí’s time.
Date
Dalí did not always date his works. For works that are not dated, a year is proposed, and where there is insufficient reliable information to establish the date with complete certainty the year is preceded by the abbreviation c. (circa).
Technique
This catalogue raisonné is mostly devoted to oil paintings, but works in tempera and in other media such as collage are also included. Where we cannot be certain of the technique, it is entered as “Unknown”.
Support
During his early period, until 1930, Dalí painted on various kinds of support, including cardboard and wood, but especially on fabrics of all types, notably hessian or sacking, a very coarse thick support, to which he applied the pigment directly. Throughout the 1930s, in particular, he used small wooden boards and factory-prepared canvases. During the 1940s and 1950s, he used above all medium-sized canvases, also factory-prepared. From time to time he used rigid panels in the execution of scale models for projects for the stage or for film sets. In the nineteen sixties and seventies he often used small supports incorporating optical effects such as Rowlux film, as well as very large canvases and plywood panels for works such as those he created for the ceilings and walls of the Theatre-Museum and Púbol Castle. Dalí never abandoned the use of canvas, and this was the support he chose, from 1980 to 1983, for his last series of paintings. Where we cannot be certain of the support, it is entered as Unknown.
Dimensions
The dimensions of the works are given in centimetres, with the height followed by the width. Where it has not been possible to measure the work directly, the information provided by the owner is used. Where we cannot be certain of the dimensions, these are entered as Unknown.
Signature and inscriptions
The nature and position of any signature or inscription on the work is given, and if the work is unsigned or was signed at a later date, this fact is noted.
Location
The current ownership of the work is noted here, and in the case of private collectors who wish to remain anonymous, the entry is limited to the expression ‘Private collection’.
Copyright
The caption under the photographic image provides information on the copyright of the pictorial work and the reproduction rights of the image. For additional information, you should contact the Department of Rights of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí: gerencia@fundaciodali.org.
DOCUMENTATION OF THE PICTORIAL WORK
This last section provides detailed information on all the documentation relating to the work. This may include observations concerning the provenance of the work and other considerations related to its study, bibliography and exhibition history. All of the information in this section has been checked and corroborated by the Centre for Dalinian Studies.
Provenance
This is a chronological list of the owners to whom the pictorial work has belonged, from the earliest to the most recent, and is of fundamental importance for demonstrating Dalí’s authorship of the work. For this reason, every effort is made to establish an unbroken chronological sequence, although in some cases it can be difficult to obtain certain information, and in view of this we invite the owners to get in touch with us if they have any information about the works.
This field also respects the privacy of those owners who wish to remain anonymous: in such cases the work is simply listed as belonging to a private collection.
Observations
This section provides clarification of aspects of the work such as its title, date, provenance, exhibition history, etc, as well as noting whether the work is also painted on the back.
Exhibition history
This field lists the most important exhibitions in which the work is known to have appeared, in chronological order from the earliest to the most recent, together with the number given to the work in the exhibition catalogue where this is known. In other cases, the presence of the work in the exhibition has been documented in other ways, and it is listed as hors catalogue.
Bibliography
Cited here are the most important publications in which an image of the work appears, with the corresponding page number. The bibliography includes monographs, exhibition catalogues, newspaper and magazine articles and in some cases other ephemeral documents, and notes whether the image is a genuine reproduction, an indirect or incidental representation, or a detail.
Work Team
Publication of the Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí was carried out between 2004 and 2017, in several phases: the first phase covered the paintings from the years up to 1929; the second, to 1939; the third to 1951, the fourth to 1964 and the fifth and last up to 1983. Inevitably, the composition of the technical team has changed over the last 15 years, and the names of the people involved in the project since its origin are given below, together with the corresponding chronological stages.
Carlos Pérez de Rozas, Salvador Dalí pintant l’obra Gala Placídia al taller de Portlligat, c. 1952.
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTION:
Montse Aguer i Teixidor, Director of the Dalí Museums and the Centre for Dalinian Studies.
Carme Ruiz González, senior curator of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí.
Scientific advisors:
Fèlix Fanés, Professor of History of Art at the UAB and advisor to the Centre for Dalinian Studies until 2004.
Antoni Pitxot, Director of the Dalí Museums until 2015.
Technico-artistic advice:
Georgina Berini, conserver-restorer, until 2004.
Irene Civil Plans, head of the Conservation and Restoration Department.
RESEARCH AND STUDY OF THE WORKS:
Coordination:
Carme Ruiz González
Fiona Mata Echeverry, coordinator of the Centre for Dalinian Studies.
Research and documentation:
In the first section, works until 1929: Carme Ruiz (CED) and Rosa Aguer (register). This team was advised by Georgina Berini, conservator-restorer, and Felix Fanés, Professor of Art History at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and advisor to the CED.
In the second phase, works up to 1939: Carme Ruiz González, Rosa Maria Maurell Constans, Mireia Roura and Anna Otero
In the third phase, works up to 1951: Carme Ruiz González and Anna Otero
In the fourth phase, works up to 1964: Carme Ruiz González and Anna Otero
In the fifth phase, works up to 1983: Carme Ruiz González, Fiona Mata Echeverry and Anna Otero
The process of study of the works has involved the collaboration of the team at the Centre for Dalinian Studies: Laura Bartolomé Roviras, Bea Crespo, Rosa Maria Maurell Constans, Lucia Moni and Clara Silvestre Colomer (and, previously, Fanny Estela, Michela Frontino and Cuca R. Costa).
Here at the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí we wish to express our gratitude to the following people whose participation has contributed so much to the success of this project: Julia Pine, Paul Dorsey, Paul Chimera and Karl-Heinz Klumpner, who shared with us their researches into the portraits painted by Salvador Dalí; Elliott King, who gave us the benefit of his knowledge of the later Dalí; Mario González Lares, who provided us with a wealth of useful information, and the various private collectors, who have chosen to remain anonymous.
Special thanks are due to the interns at the Centre for Dalinian Studies who have supported the documentation tasks: Esther Álvarez, Mónica Álvarez, Ariadna Arbolí Pujol, Giulia Balestrieri, Maria Carreras Oliva, Andrea Consalvi, Arthur Defond, Maria Diletta Dinuzzi, Yvne Dos Reis Faria, Núria García-Arbós i Mata, Eloïse Gentié, Stefania Giammarino, Marina Gluckman, Diletta Iacucci, Louise Nicolas de Lamballerie, Evangelia Liaskou, Caroline Marcianiak, Adelaide Maresca, Maralina Moore, Marisa Papa, Hélène Planquelle, Aleksandra Szulimowska, François de Tarde, Irene Viola Totaro and Aleksandra Wróblewsla.
Rights management: Mercedes Aznar Laín
Revision of texts and translation: Pilar Daniel (Catalan and Spanish), Subtil (Catalan and Spanish in the fifth phase), Marielle Lemarchand (French) and Graham Thomson (English)
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