Salvador Dali - illustrations for books. Biblia Sacra with illustrations by Dali

Little is known about the relationship between Dali and the church. In general, the artist’s statements that he is the savior, scandalous works in which bare chest- almost the most innocent motive, and even shots from a gun according to biblical illustrations would be enough for more than one renunciation. But love won. Love for money, as it seems to many.

Dali is unique. His life and work are amazing ... Works, personality, and even himself appearance, screaming about his eccentricity. He becomes in more mythological character than a real figure!

Salvador Dali was born in 1904 in Spain in the family of an atheist and a devout Catholic, which did not interfere with their marriage at all. Salvador was named not only in honor of his father, but also in memory of the first child who died before he was 2 years old. Dali always felt a painful connection with his late brother.

His ability to draw showed up early. He participates in his first exhibition when he is 14 years old!

At the age of 17, Salvador becomes a student of the Academy fine arts in Madrid. True, the Academy gave him a little, and he himself considered himself superior to his teachers, but after 3 years he was expelled for misbehavior. Then, as time passed, he returned, but a year later he was again expelled, this time without the right to reinstate! The artist himself provoked such a decision with his contemptuous attitude towards teachers.

When he was asked in an exam to name the three most bright artists in history, Dali said: "I refuse to answer this question. None of the teachers can judge me. I'm leaving."

Salvador experimented with various styles, but most of all he was attracted, of course, by surrealism, whose strange images perfectly reflected the defiant and strange character of Dali.

We are all used to distinguishing his work from other artists, as he can even be called a "showman of surrealism." Salvador Dali was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. His upturned mustache face was familiar even to people who had never been interested in art.

In his own way, he did not care what other people, critics or public opinion thought of him. Some art historians consider him a vulgar showman, interested only in money. But we must pay tribute to Salvador - he did it perfectly.

Yes, Dali loved the limelight, was not indifferent to questions material well-being, and even the most ardent admirers of his work are forced to admit that many of his paintings are devoid of the smallest spark of inspiration.

And at the same time, Dali demonstrated inexhaustible imagination throughout his life, and one can only applaud the masterful technique of his writing.

Most likely, you know many of Dali's surrealistic works, but many people do not know about his series of works-illustrations for the Bible. It is strange that this moment of his biography is so little known.

This is not the Dali we are used to seeing. Although, by individual elements you can guess whose work is in front of you.

Half a century ago, in 1967, a unique version of the Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali was first released in Italy. And not just released, but with the blessing of the Pope, who was one of the first to receive as a gift this amazing edition of the Holy Scriptures bound in white leather and gold.

The initiator of the Biblia Sacra project was the Italian collector Giuseppe Albaretto. A good friend of Dali and a believer, he hoped that the work on illustrations for the Bible would force Dali to turn to religion. The artist took on the bold project with enthusiasm. Oddly enough, the hierarchs catholic church blessed the unexpected choice of illustrator for the new edition of the Bible.

Such a project involved a detailed and in-depth study of the texts of the Holy Scriptures, spiritual penetration not only into storyline, but also hidden meaning and the truth of the words of the Great Book.

The choice of biblical themes for this project was made by Dali himself.

Salvador Dali creates expressive images, intuitively guessed and "read", but sounding perfect in a new way. It's unexpected and interesting. Looking at each work, you freeze, carry through yourself, deeply and consciously.

They are permeated with motifs that pass from one work of Dali to another throughout life: crutches, ants, elephants, a man with a staff. The illustrations were created with the help of extravagant experiments that attracted the public so much.

For example, Dali copied the red splashes in The Creation of the World from nature - he threw a glass of blood and captured the splashed fragments and drops on canvas. He wrote another story with the blood of freshly crushed snails. To achieve the effect of a temple fresco, the artist shot the lithographic stones with a gun from 1812.

Dali's illustrations are made in the style of abstract expressionism, a phenomenon that continued after surrealism. The "liberation" of art from any control of the mind and logical laws, setting as its goal spontaneous expression inner world artist, his subconscious in chaotic, abstract forms.

Salvador Dali guided creative principle, which includes spontaneous, automatic application of paints to the canvas, which occurs solely under the influence of mental and emotional states.

His line, the contours of the bodies, convey all his skill and skill. He is an artist. He skips biblical stories through himself, with his characteristic expressiveness.

P.S. The most successfully laid out selection of all 105 lithographs was found here at this link. The size is not very large, but normal scans and comfortable to look at. If you know the source better (for example, with signatures, what kind of plot is this) - please tell us.

MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE

Lithography is a printing method in which ink is transferred under pressure from a flat printing plate to paper. Lithography is based on the physico-chemical principle, which implies obtaining an impression from a completely smooth surface (stone), which, due to appropriate processing, acquires the property of accepting special lithographic ink in its individual sections.

The lithographic stone is fixed in the lithographic machine. The original image is washed out. Instead, a drying oil-based printing ink is applied to the moistened stone with a roller, adhering only to the unetched parts of the stone, exactly corresponding to the pattern. By means of a lithographic machine, the paper is tightly pressed against a lithographic stone or plate covered with paint (it is rolled or “dragged”; in the second case, historically - the first, the image is pressed from stone to paper, thanks to a given pressure exerted on the printed plane by the so-called edge through the sliding folders underneath).

Thus, on the print, the pattern is covered with paint, and the background remains white. For color lithography, separate stones or plates are prepared for primary colors and black, and printing is done on one sheet in succession. Lithography has great freedom in the transfer of texture and other means. artistic expressiveness, and each print is an original and has an independent artistic value.

The Bible from El Salvador

Biblia Sacra with illustrations by Dali. " Holy Bible»; by Salvador Dali

Almost half a century ago, in 1967, a unique version of the Bible was first produced in Italy, with illustrations by Salvador Dali. And not just released, but with the blessing of the Pope, who was one of the first to receive as a gift this amazing edition of the Holy Scriptures bound in white leather and gold. Project initiator Bible Sacra was the Italian collector Giuseppe Albaretto, good friend famous artist.

Biblia Sacra, famous collector's bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali
But now the time has come, and the reprint of the exclusive Bible saw the light: the luxurious book saw the light 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 drawings that depict the most famous biblical scenes. Of course, the peculiarities of the work of the master of Salvador make it impossible for us to identify most of the lithographs without context, but such originality allows us to look at the usual and familiar stories from childhood, known to us through traditional editions of the Old and New Testaments, from a different angle. By the way, all lithographs are printed in seven colors, not four, as is usually done in printing.

The chic design of the book includes a natural leather cover, decorated with a gilded Dali signature, encrusted with a huge diamond and other precious stones. The collector's volume will weigh 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 guess how much such a book will cost, but given that the series is limited to 500 copies, and at one time the Czech reissue of the book worth 77 thousand crowns ($ 4,200) was sold out in one day, there is no shortage of people who want to get a Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali himself. and will not. By the way, at auctions the cost of the original Italian edition of Biblia Sacra reaches 75 thousand dollars.
Today, different editions of the unique Bible with exclusive surreal lithographs signed by Salvador Dali are kept in private collections of many famous people. So, 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 Dominik Duka of Prague. Probably, the local oligarchs, the first persons of the state and the clergy close to them will soon be able to boast of the Ukrainian version.

Salvador Dali. "Black devil. Hell. Song 21. Illustration for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. 1959-1963. Gala - Salvador Dali Foundation

Graphic sheets for the Divine Comedy dated 1958-1963, and this is not just one of the most big works Salvador Dali in the "artist's book" genre. Perhaps that is why, unlike the illustrations for other great books, the Divine Comedy series is shown in its entirety, without missing a single link? Dante Alighieri along with other creators Early Renaissance entered the pantheon of surrealists and Dali himself, primarily as the best and most famous example the vision they value so much.

Adventures of a Spaniard in Italy

“The whole world, from communists to Christians, took up arms against my illustrations for Dante. But they were 100 years too late!” - these words of Salvador Dali in the "Diary of a Genius" are dated May 1956. The works created by the artist in the early 1950s by order of the Italian government for the publication of the Divine Comedy for the 700th anniversary of Dante were perceived extremely negatively in Italy. Everything was recalled in the Dali press, from the surrealist past to fascist sympathies, and most importantly, the Spaniard should not touch the fundamental for the Italian nation literary monument and with public money. The project was interrupted, but the desire to make it a reality no longer left Dali.

The Divine Comedy was far from his first experience in book graphics. Purposefully, the artist first turned to illustration in 1934, when a new edition of Lautreamont's poem "Songs of Maldoror" was published. In 1948, returning from America, Dali illustrated the biography of Benvenuto Cellini (these works are also presented at the exhibition), and in 1956 he made lithographs for Don Quixote.

At the opening of the exhibition “Salvador Dali. Surrealist and classic" in the St. Petersburg Faberge Museum

As a result, The Divine Comedy is published by the Parisian publishing house Les Heures Claires in six volumes. 2.9 thousand copies were issued, as well as 100 numbered with pagination in Roman numerals and 44 on Japanese paper. All of them were printed in the Verona printing house Stamperia Valdonega.

Dali's drawings were made in watercolor, gouache and pen, and then transferred to the printing technique. save all artistic features the original was achieved through the use of colored woodcuts - just as was done in the famous Japanese prints. Each Dali drawing was reproduced in successive prints from 20 to 37 separate printing plates, due to which all shades of color were conveyed. Over the course of more than five years, the engraver Raymond Jacquet and his assistant manually cut out up to 3.5 thousand boards, which were destroyed after the print run.

Past the letters

True to his style, Dali does not follow the text of the Divine Comedy, but in the descriptions of hell, purgatory and paradise, he is most attracted to the fantastic. Having reacted in the late 1930s to a general turn towards the classics, the artist nevertheless remained faithful to surrealistic imagery and did not leave the techniques that brought him fame to the end. And here again he uses the surrealistic vocabulary, to the creation of which he had a hand.

As always, the master himself will best explain his art. In the spring of 1960, before the opening of the Paris exhibition, which presented a cycle of illustrations for the Divine Comedy, he writes in the Diary of a Genius: , convincing the whole world that hell is black, like the coal mines of Gustave Dore, and nothing can be seen there. All this is nonsense. Dante's hell is illuminated by the sun and the honey of the Mediterranean, which is why the horrors of my illustrations are so analytical and super-student in appearance, because they have an angelic viscosity coefficient. In my illustrations, for the first time in bright light, you can observe the digestive superaesthetics of two creatures mutually devouring each other. It's a crazy day filled with mystical, ammoniacal joy. I wanted my illustrations for Dante to be like light traces of dampness on divine cheese. That's where these motley stains, reminiscent of butterfly wings, come from.

Illustrations for The Divine Comedy at the exhibition Salvador Dali. Surrealist and classic" in the St. Petersburg Faberge Museum

Depicting Dante, whose profile is recognizable from the time of the portrait created by Botticelli a century and a half after the death of the poet, Dali portrays himself, and in the image of Beatrice, Gala he adores. As he put it in the same diary, “continuing the hereditary line of the Greeks, Dali is only satisfied with himself when he manages to make cheese out of the anguish of space and time and the quantized unrest of the soul! And mystical, divine cheese!”

The Divine Comedy is rightly considered one of the pinnacles of Salvador Dali's artistic career and a masterpiece of typographic art. In 2008, a copy of the book was sold at Christie's in London for £10,000, doubling the estimate.

For Dali, who saw heaven and hell through the eyes of Dante, it was natural to establish an even shorter acquaintance with their creator - after " Divine Comedy"In 1963-1964, he takes on illustrating the Bible.

Almost half a century ago, in 1967, a unique version of the Bible was first published in Italy, with illustrations by Salvador Dali. And not just released, but with the blessing of the Pope, who was one of the first to receive as a gift this amazing edition of the Holy Scriptures bound in white leather and gold. Project initiator Bible Sacra was the Italian collector Giuseppe Albaretto, a good friend of the famous artist. But now the time has come, and the reprint of the exclusive Bible saw the light: the luxurious book saw the light first in Italy, then in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in September 2012 the appearance Bible Sacra also expected 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 the master of Salvador make it impossible for us to identify most of the lithographs without context, but such originality allows us to look at the usual and familiar stories from childhood, known to us through traditional editions of the Old and New Testaments, from a different angle. By the way, all lithographs are printed in seven colors, not four, as is usually done in printing.

The chic design of the book includes a natural leather cover, decorated with a gilded Dali signature, encrusted with a huge diamond and other precious stones. The collector's volume will weigh 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 guess how much such a book will cost, but given that the series is limited to 500 copies, and at one time the Czech reissue of the book worth 77 thousand crowns ($ 4,200) was sold out in one day, there is no shortage of people who want to get a Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali himself. and will not. By the way, at auctions the cost of the original Italian edition of Biblia Sacra reaches 75 thousand dollars.

Today, different editions of the unique Bible with exclusive surreal lithographs signed by Salvador Dali are kept in private collections of many famous people. So, 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 Dominik Duka of Prague. Probably, the local oligarchs, the first persons of the state and the clergy close to them will soon be able to boast of the Ukrainian version.