Biblia Sacra with illustrations by Dali. "Holy Scripture" from the incomparable Salvador

Salvador Dali met Pierre Argillet in 1934. New friend famous surrealist turned out to be an avid collector of futuristic, dadaistic and surrealist works. In 1959, Pierre and his wife Genevieve ordered the first series of illustrations from Dali for a joint publication.In 1962, Dali entered into a ten-year contract with the publisher Pierre Argillet to create illustrations. The collaboration, based on deep mutual sympathy and similarity of views, turned out to be more than fruitful: as a result, more than 200 etchings were published.Topics for work were suggested by Argille, who was also in charge of sales. Unlike other publishers, he sought the closest possible participation of Dali in the creation of engravings.In 1974, Salvador Dali and Pierre Argille diverged. Pierre insisted that we need to work according traditional technology, and did not share new idea Dali - lithographs based on photographs. But using new technology, Dali created another more work, which attracted an even wider audience, and which was hit by an even more powerful wave of criticism.Dali would not be himself if he did not experiment with familiar techniques. In “Songs of Maldoror” he uses only one tool - a steel needle, in the following series he uses a ruby and diamond tip, combining them with a needle and a chisel, he etched works with acid, worked in the aquatint technique, eroding the asphalt coating of a copper sheet with a brush.Every year his techniques became more complex: he painted finished prints with metal powder and watercolors, and combined several engraving techniques in one work. Experiments led him to the idea of making lithographs based on photos. Complex techniques made it possible to achieve realistic effects, with their help, he deeply worked out the shadows and refined the lines.I present some series created by Dali.

Les Chants de Maldoror

« Songs of Maldoror » Count Lautréamont

A bizarre and bewitching work that shocks the reader with “madness” and “blasphemy”; poetry alternates with rhythmic prose depicting a surreal world inhabited by demonic characters; for monologues lyrical hero characterized by nihilism and black humor. During his lifetime, the author was never able to publish the work. The manuscript of “Songs” was found several years after the author’s death in the desk drawer of the editor of the publishing house, who refused to publish it. Nevertheless, once published, the Songs immediately won an army of admirers and had a huge influence on the French symbolists, especially Arthur Rimbaud.

In 1934, Dalí engraved 42 etchings commissioned by Albert Shkira: 30 photogravures and 12 vignettes. Albert Shkira planned to publish 200 books, but due to financial difficulties, only half of the circulation was published. All illustrations were without captions. In 1973, Shkira, Argille and Dali signed a tripartite contract, according to which it was planned to once again publish books with illustrations. Salvador, feeling a surge of enthusiasm, processed 8 plates. A total of 50 plates were produced, from which illustrations were printed for 100 books - the second half of the circulation, which could not be published in 1934.

Salvador Dali was recommended to the Swiss publisher by Pablo Picasso himself to create illustrations for the “Songs of Maldoror”. This work significantly influenced the development of Salvador as a surrealist: for example, famous image « soft watch“first appeared in Dali’s creation precisely during the creation of etchings for the poem by Isidore Dukas, also known as Count Lautréamont.

Don Quichotte de la Mancha

"Don Quixote" by Cervantes

In 1957, the eminent publisher Joseph Fauré came to Salvador Dali with an impressive load of lithographic stones and the idea of creating extraordinary illustrations for the most famous book after the Bible - Don Quixote. Dali, who at that time had a cool attitude towards what he considered to be an overly liberal engraving, accepted the offer only because it made it possible to continue experiments with stones and methods of applying images to them. Instead of a brush and pencil, the artist used an air pistol, shooting the base of the future lithograph with specially made shot filled with ink.

Divine Comedy

« Divine Comedy» Dante

Dali's illustrations of The Divine Comedy are recognized the best works artist in the field book graphics. The engravings are distinguished by excellent color, more characteristic of painting than of graphics.In 1951, Salvador Dali received an order from the Italian government to create a series of illustrations for the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and make engravings based on them. Over the course of several years, the maestro painted 100 watercolors: one for each of the 100 songs of the Comedy, interpreting the most important moment in his own way.Having learned that the creation of the great Italian was being illustrated by a Spaniard, the Italian public protested, and the order was cancelled. But Dali, who had been in love with Dante’s work since childhood, did not stop working. Joseph Fauré, with whom Dalí worked on Don Quixote, introduced the artist to Le Heur Clair, whose publishing house ultimately took over the project.Dali personally supervised the process of creating the plates, checking and approving each of them. Work on the woodcuts was completed in 1963, and a year later “The Divine Comedy” with illustrations by Dali was put into print.

Dali Illustre Casanova

Stories by Giacomo Casanova

In 1789, Casanova began writing memoirs in French (“The Story of My Life,” “Histoire de ma vie,” 10 vols.), which brought him posthumous fame. In 1822-1828. an abridged translation of the memoirs was published in German; in 1826-1838 a French edition was published, revised by J. Laforgue. In Laforgue's processing they were shortened sexual adventures(in particular, all homosexual episodes were thrown out), and the political coloring of the memoirs was also changed - from a Catholic and a staunch opponent of the revolution, as he really was, Casanova turned into a political and religious freethinker. The original text of Casanova was published only in the 1960s.

Having thoroughly studied Freud's work and experiencing a passionate and, at the same time, strange attraction to women (a mixture of fear, disgust, curiosity and admiration), Salvador Dali could not help but become interested in the short stories of Giacomo Casanova, the famous adventurer and conqueror of women. Casanova and Dali are peculiar antipodes: one studied women, getting close to them physically, the second comprehended the secrets of female flesh and nature, rather, in the imagination.Inspired by Casanova's sensual revelations and intrigued unusual personality scandalous author, Dali created illustrations that added to the novellas famous Italian piquancy and seemed to release everything that was forbidden, which readers could only guess about before.

Alice in Wonderland

"Alice in Wonderland" by L. Carroll

"Alice in Wonderland" with illustrations by Salvador Dali is one of the most unusual and vibrant books. And this is not surprising, because two great surrealists met on its pages: the master of verbal fantasies, Lewis Carroll, and the artist who declared that he was surrealism.This unusual book with a frontispiece engraving by Dali was released in 1969 by the New York publishing house Press-Random House. The artist painted a gouache drawing for each of the 12 chapters. Based on these drawings, 12 incredibly colorful and exotic heliogravures were then created. The girl Alice, holding a jump rope above her head, “jumps” from drawing to drawing, rushing further and further into the depths of a fantasy land or her fantasies.

Biblia Sacra

Bible

Illustrations for the Holy Scriptures are one of the artist’s most ambitious works.The work was commissioned by Italian billionaire Giuseppe Albaretto, whom Dali met in 1956, when the Albaretto family was vacationing on the Costa Brava, not far from the artist’s home. Giuseppe Albaretto, a devout Catholic, hoped that working on illustrations for the Bible would force Dali to turn to religion. The artist took on the bold project with enthusiasm. Oddly enough, the hierarchy catholic church blessed the unexpected choice of illustrator for the new edition of the Bible.In Russia, the illustrations are exhibited as part of the “Holy Message” graphics exhibition.

Faust

"Faust" by Goethe

A series of etchings illustrating Goethe's Faust is rightfully included in the golden fund of twentieth-century engravings. The great destroyer of standards, Dali remains true to himself in etchings. Having carefully studied existing engraving techniques, Dali tames them with effortless ease and transforms them into something unique and yet recognizable. The master replaced the most complex layers of color, each of which required a separate drawing, and separate etching of a metal plate with an ingeniously simple action: he simply took watercolors and painted the engravings with it, and decorated some with sprayed silver or gold paints.The artist tries different techniques, tracing the image onto the metal with a ruby and diamond point, adding shadows and refining the lines with a steel needle and cutter. Tools made from materials with different hardness, make it possible to obtain strokes of varying depth and sharpness.

Le Decameron

"Decameron" by Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - Italian writer, humanist of the era Early Renaissance, who, along with his idols - the great Dante and the incomparable Petrarch - had a huge influence on the development of all European culture."Decameron" translated from Greek means "ten-day". Ten young people, in the midst of a terrible plague, retire to a country villa, where for ten days they tell each other stories - a hundred stories in all, or short stories, each of which puts a unique touch on big picture Italian life XIV century.

Le Paradise Perdu

Milton's Paradise Lost

"Paradise Lost" - outstanding work world literature, one of the brightest examples literary epic, a creation extremely diverse in content and at the same time extremely complex and contradictory, which affected its fate among different generations readers...

The poem develops the plot of the book of Genesis, with Christian elements. Big role plays fallen angel, aka Satan. He organizes armed struggle against the angels and is the cause of the fall of man. In the poem, Adam and Eve led a married life before the Fall, but after it, sexual love began to take on a different character. Eve in the poem is very beautiful and independent of Adam. After she ate forbidden fruit, Eve gives Adam the fruit to eat in the name of their love, he obeys, despite the fact that the angel Raphael warned him not to eat.

The ancient Roman poet Publius Ovid Naso became famous for his love elegies and two poems - “Metamorphoses” and “The Art of Love”. Ovid's poems were distinguished by grace and wit and therefore quickly became widely known.The poem “The Art of Love” is one of Ovid’s most brilliant works in terms of wit and formal perfection. He draws up a whole code of rules of conduct that should guide a young man in love in his relationship with the woman he loves. Ovid begins his humorous poem with the section: “Finding the Object of Love,” giving advice on how and where to find a suitable lover. The second part of the poem is devoted to how to win love, the third - how to keep it. The work contains numerous everyday sketches, elegant mythological stories, humorous reasoning on moral themes. Those who want to win hearts require charm and knowledge of art. In the third book, the poet gives advice to women. And grace is required of them appearance, delicate taste and artistic knowledge.

DOWNLOAD:

Password: Di1QFby9

Enjoy your acquaintance!

Almost half a century ago, in 1967, a unique version of the Bible with illustrations by himself was first released in Italy. Salvador Dali. And not just released, but with the blessing of the Pope, who was one of the first to receive this amazing edition of the Holy Scriptures bound in white leather and gold as a gift. Project initiator Biblia Sacra became the Italian collector Giuseppe Albaretto, good friend famous artist. But now the time has come, and the re-release of the exclusive Bible saw the light: the luxurious book was released first in Italy, then in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in September 2012 the appearance Biblia Sacra is also expected in Ukraine.

The unique 900-page Bible contains a series of 105 watercolor drawings, which depict the most famous biblical scenes. Of course, the peculiarities of the work of Master Salvador deprive us of the opportunity to identify most of the lithographs without context, but such originality allows us to look from a different angle at the familiar and familiar subjects from childhood, known to us thanks to the traditional editions of the Old and New Testaments. By the way, all lithographs are printed in seven colors, and not in four, as is usually done in printing.

Today, various editions of the unique Bible with exclusive surreal lithographs signed by Salvador Dali are kept in the private collections of many famous people. Thus, the Czech version of Biblia Sacra was received by the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus and the head of the Czech Catholic Church, Archbishop Dominic Duka of Prague. Probably, local oligarchs, top officials of the state and clergy close to them will soon be able to boast of the Ukrainian version.

The work was commissioned by Italian billionaire Giuseppe Albaretto, whom Dali met in 1956, when the Albaretto family was vacationing on the Costa Brava, not far from the artist’s home.

Giuseppe Albaretto, a devout Catholic, hoped that working on illustrations for the Bible would force Dali to turn to religion. The artist took on the bold project with enthusiasm. Oddly enough, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church blessed the unexpected choice of illustrator for the new edition of the Bible. In the interpretation of the great surrealist, the Book of Books opens up other meanings and facets.

Original title: Biblia Sacra
Year: 1963-1969
Technique: mixed (watercolor, ink, gouache, pastel, pencil), lithography.
Collection composition: a total of 105 lithographs were created, printed on special paper self made. The total circulation of illustrations is about 1800 prints.
Dimensions of the work: width about 48 cm, height about 35 cm.
Features: many prints are signed by the hand of Salvador Dali.

The lithographs are combined into blocks bound in Florentine leather. Some illustrations are published as separate sheets.

Here are some examples:

1. This is apparently the head of John the Baptist in the hands of Salome.
In the background is the same squire who cut off the head of the prophet
(But why is he bare-bottomed?). And where is the dish on which Salome was brought
head of John the Baptist? And the hand at the bottom of the illustration probably belongs to
Herodias (or Herod Antipas?).

2. Some scene from the Revelation of John the Theologian? Armageddon?
I’m the only one who sees an astronaut in a spacesuit in this illustration,
injecting an angel in the ass?

3. This is completely beyond my understanding. I'll try to use my imagination...
Is God designing Eve (still in the drawing)? And the black blot, resting on a chassis with two wheels,
who is this? Is it really Adam? Or Satanail? Or Lucifer? But they are not in the canonical text of the Bible...
So I'm at a loss.

4. Apparently again the scene of the Revelation of John the Theologian,
in which angels blow trumpets?
Well, is the eye a symbol of God? Or is it not an eye?

Tell me honestly, do you understand which one? biblical story depicted in these four illustrations? And would you like to read the Bible with such illustrations?
I probably don’t understand anything about avant-garde art, but for me, Gustav Doré’s engravings are better.

Sergey Vorobiev.

The Bible from El Salvador

Biblia Sacra with illustrations by Dali. " Scripture"; from Salvador Dali

Biblia Sacra, the famous collectible Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali
But now the time has come, and the re-release of the exclusive Bible saw the light: the luxurious book was published first in Italy, then in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in Ukraine. The unique 900-page Bible contains a series of 105 watercolor paintings that depict the most famous biblical scenes. Of course, the peculiarities of the work of Master Salvador deprive us of the opportunity to identify most of the lithographs without context, but such originality allows us to look from a different angle at the familiar and familiar subjects from childhood, known to us thanks to the traditional editions of the Old and New Testaments. By the way, all lithographs are printed in seven colors, and not in four, as is usually done in printing.

The book's luxurious design includes a genuine leather binding, decorated with Dali's gilded signature, encrusted with a huge diamond and other precious stones. The weight of the collector's volume will be something like 15 kg, and this does not include the original wood and leather box in which the reissued Biblia Sacra will be packaged. It is difficult to imagine how much such a book will cost, but given that the series is limited to 500 copies, and at one time the Czech reprint of the book costing 77 thousand crowns ($4,200) was sold out in one day, there is no shortage of people who want to acquire the Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali himself and it won't. By the way, at auctions the cost of the original Italian edition of Biblia Sacra reaches 75 thousand dollars.
Today, various editions of the unique Bible with exclusive surreal lithographs signed by Salvador Dali are kept in the private collections of many famous people. Thus, the Czech version of Biblia Sacra was received by the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus and the head of the Czech Catholic Church, Archbishop Dominic Duka of Prague. Probably, local oligarchs, top officials of the state and clergy close to them will soon be able to boast of the Ukrainian version.