Works by Francis Picabia from the 1940s have fetched high prices
Paris – Executed in 1939 by Salvador Dalí, Bacchanale, coming from an important private collection, was the highlight of Bonhams' Surrealist sale on 26 March at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, achieving €254,400. It has been bought at auction by The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida (USA).
The 76-lot sale included paintings and works on paper by French, Belgian and Hispanic Masters including Salvador Dalí , Paul Delvaux, Claudio Bravo, Leonor Fini, Jane Graverol, Roberto Matta and Francis Picabia, made a total of €1,372,206.
Emilie Millon, International Director of Bonhams' Impressionist & Modern Art department, commented: "Bacchanale created by Salvador Dalí for the New York City's Metropolitan Opera, was an exceptional stage set with a rich and singular history which has continued to fascinate audiences for nearly ninety years. We are delighted it sold to The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida for such a fantastic result, following the exhibition of the backdrop in Bonhams' premises in Paris."
"The immersive nature of this largest of Salvador Dalí paintings purchased by The Dalí reflects the Museum's ongoing commitment to preserve and share in St. Petersburg Dalí's legacy through dynamic, thoughtfully curated exhibitions," said Dr. Hank Hine, Executive Director of The Dalí Museum. "We will continue to advance how we engage audiences while demonstrating yet another dimension of Dalí's work."
Bacchanale is a stage set comprising 13 canvases in total, considered as the largest work created by Salvador Dalí for the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1939. Dalí defined it as his first paranoiac-critical ballet, a work in which he poured all his ideas about a total work of art: he wrote the libretto and designed the set and costumes.
Key figures on the international scene collaborated on the ballet: Léonide Massine, choreographer and director of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, and Coco Chanel, who designed part of the costumes and accessories. The score was an adaptation of Wagner's Tannhäuser overture. Dalí created the maquette between March and May 1939, and the set was meticulously produced from late May to August 1939 in the Ballets Russes workshop in Monte Carlo under the direction of Alexandre Schervachidze. Dalí personally oversaw key details of the final curtain and backdrop, incorporating imaginative elements such as a faceless reclining woman, a motif also seen in his 1939 painting L'Énigme sans fin. Despite complications arising from the European conflict, Dalí was unable to attend, and Chanel refused to send her pieces, the premiere, which took place on 9 November 1939 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, was a success.
Bacchanale is a monumental construction: 13 large pieces with a backdrop measuring 9 metres high and nearly 18 metres wide, and four sets of canvases, painted with almost photographic precision and three-dimensional elements. At the center of the backdrop curtain rises majestically the Mount of Venus. Around it, Salvador Dalí has placed symbolic elements that create a mysterious atmosphere. On either side, within the wings, there are drawers containing vanitas objects: skulls, ewers, beans, as well as a representation of his muse, Gala Dalí. This set immerses the viewer in a distinctly "Dalinian" universe, imbued with artistic, philosophical, and psychoanalytic references.
Other highlights of the sale included:
• Francis Picabia's work was particularly highlighted in this auction, demonstrating that the market for this artist remains as strong as ever with an exceptional collection of 10 paintings and works of paper by the artist offered. The artist's richly diverse and confounding oeuvre is marked by fluid movement between figurative representation and abstraction, especially in the 1940s including the historical oil on panel La Polonaise, executed in 1940 in response to the invasion of Poland, which places the isolated victim within the context of the tragedy of the time. The restraint and distance of the image intensify the sense of unease without resorting to pathos. It sold for €336,950 against an estimate of €200,000-300,000.
• Masque, oil on cardboard painted circa 1939 by Francis Picabia sold for €216,300. The Masques convey an impression of silent strangeness. This frontal presentation creates a tension: the viewer is confronted with a presence that gazes back yet remains entirely elusive.
• Sans titre (Femme aux yeux clairs) graphite, black chalk and gouache on paper by the artist sold for €51,200 against an estimate of €18,000-25,000. This portrait depicts a young woman, often idealised in which exudes a strange atmosphere. The eyes are often absent or frozen, the expressions scarcely animated. The woman is at once icon, fantasy, media image, and spectral presence.
• Tête en l'air by one of our favorite surrealist Belgian painter Jane Graverol sold for €70,250, twice its high estimate. Characterized by poetic symbolism and precise composition, the painting invites viewers to transcend the ordinary world and surrender to imagination, while affirming Graverol's distinctive and introspective artistic voice.
• Messager, surprising and intense étude pour le concile d'amour by Leonor Fini (1907-1996) sold for €24,320, more than four times its estimate.
• A Fauteuil radiateur by Jacques Carelman (1929-2012) made of painted radiators assembled, realised circa 1969 sold for €24,320, world record price for a work by the artist at auction.