#10549 • Salvador Dali "Burning Giraffe" Aubusson Tapestry

Part of Pierre Argillet & Royal Family Art Collection (timed auction by GWS Auctions)

Starting at $1.00

Status: Sold

Est. $375,000-$390,000 Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) 1973 "Burning Giraffe" (From the Tauromachie Surrealiste Suite) 67" x 87" Aubusson Tapestry Made Exclusively for Museums Numbered 3/6 W/COA - This magnificent specimen is a Salvador Dali Aubusson tapestry, created from Dali's "Burning Giraffe" etching from the Tauromachie Surrealiste suite. The suite was Dali's transformation of Picasso's famous "Tauromaquia Suite", and these astonishing works contain some of Dali's the most iconic imagery, and were an extension of the lifelong artistic dialog carried on between the two artists.The piece is one of the most recognizable of Dali's works, and is wonderfully colorful. In the piece, Dali is showing himself walking in the ring, with long eyelashes made to signify that he is asleep and this is a dream. The tapestry measures 67" x 87", and is the third in an edition of six. This series of tapestries was created because Pierre Argillet and Dali were needing larger format art pieces to decorate the enormous walls of their castles they had individually built as their respective museums. Together they chose the images from selected suites and pieces on which they had collaborated. They determined that the tapestries would be only of the highest quality, and so they commissioned the artisan, master weaver Raymond Picaud of Aubusson, to create them. One of each tapestry was destined for their museums, Dali’s Teatro-Museo in Figueres, Spain and Chateau de Vaux-le-Penil in Melun, France, a Surrealism museum set up by Argillet. The tapestries were key in creating a "Dalinian" environment in both institutions. Only 13 different images were crated in editions of 6, and Dali and Argillet oversaw the weaving process, which was all hand made. They wanted to ensure that the colors and the details of the original etching were well transposed to the tapestry. This piece comes from the personal collection of Pierre Argillet, publisher, avid collector of Surrealist art, and lifetime friend of Salvador Dali. This is the first time this collection has been offered at auction, and a once in a lifetime chance to own an one of the finest works by one of the most fascinating artists of the Surrealist movement. Pierre Argillet was a famous art collector and publisher, who was an avid collector of work by Futurists, Dadaists, and Surrealists. Argillet very early on met the major artists of the 20th century, and when he met Salvador Dali, complicity led to a life-long friendship that lasted until the painter’s death in 1989. They had a long and fruitful collaboration, producing nearly 200 etchings. This piece was personally owned by Argillet, and demonstrates high standards of quality, and the impassioned collaboration between an artist and his publisher. The piece will come with a certificate of authenticity from the Museum of Surrealism in Melun, France (Pierre Argillet's former home "Chateau Vaux-le-Penil" and former museum).