(Figueras, Espagne) 1904 – (Figueras, Espagne) 1989
Apparition d'une Infante de Velasquez au Sommet d'un Tempe Hindou ou Mystification de "Las Meninas", Circa 1940-1941
Gouache and India ink on black and white photograph
23.4 x 17 cm
Illustration for The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Dial Press, NYC, 1942
Provenance :
- John Peter Moore Collection (London, 1919 - Cadaqués, 2005)
- Former collection of the Perrot-Moore Art Center, Cadaqués
Exhibitions :
- Salvador Dali, Bilder, Zeichnungen, Ojekte, eine Ausstellung des Museu Perrot-Moore, Cadaques, Vienna, Palais Auersperrg, March - April 1982, presented under no. 45, reproduced in the catalogue
- Salvador Dali, Bilder, Zeichnungen, Ojekte, eine Ausstellung des Museu Perrot-Moore, Cadaques, Munich, May - June 1982, presented under no. 45, reproduced in the catalogue
- Salvador Dali, Oils, Drawings, Sculptures. La collection Salvador Dali du Musée Perrot-Moore, Cadaques, Perpignan, Palais des Rois de Majorque, August - September 1982, presented under no. 45, reproduced in the catalogue
- Salvador Dali, Bilder, Zeichnungen, Ojekte, eine Ausstellung des Museu Perrot-Moore, Cadaques, Zurich, Seedamm-Kulturzentrum, December 5 1982 - January 30 1983, presented under no. 45, reproduced in the catalogue
- Salvador Dali, Oils, Drawings, Sculptures. La collection Salvador Dali du Musée Perrot-Moore, Cadaques, Toulouse, Réfectoire des Jacobins, November 1983 - January 1984, reproduced in catalogue
- Salvador Dali in Argentina, Buenos Aires, Museo National de Arte Decorativo, June - July 1986, reproduced in catalogue
- Dali no Brasil, Sao Paulo, Museo de Arte Moderna, September 4 - October 5, 1986, reproduced in catalogue - El arte del dibujo. El dibujo en el arte, Bilbao, Fondation B.B.K., August 22 - October 8, 2005, described in the catalogue, Fundacion Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa Fundazioa, 2005, p. 68 and reproduced in color on p. 69.
- Dali, Saragossa, Centro de Exposiciones y Congresos Ibericaja, San Ignacio de Loyola, February 23 - April 16, 2006, reproduced in color in the catalog p. 62 under n° D 10
- Dali, Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, November 21, 2012 - March 25, 2013, reproduced in color in the catalog, ed. du Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2012, p. 310
- Dali Eureka, Céret, Musée d'art moderne de Céret, June 24 - October 1, 2017, presented under no. 172, described in the catalogue, Somogy Éd. d'Art, Paris, 2017, p. 156 and reproduced in color on p. 157
- Surréalisme et Littérature, Espace Culturel Départemental, Aix-en-Provence, July 7 - October 3, 2021, reproduced in color in the catalogue, 2021, p. 84
Literature :
The Secret life of Salvador Dali by Salvador Dali, Dial Press, New York, 1942 reproduced plate XI “The Great Paranoiac”, between p. 278 and p. 279
To the question “What's new in painting? “Dali replied, “Velázquez! ”
Throughout his life, Salvador Dalí was fascinated by the figure and painting of Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), whom he considered one of the greatest painters of all time!
As early as 1938, Dali painted several tributes to the great Sevillian master.
Apparition D'une Infante De Velasquez Au Sommet D'un Temple Hindou, painted in New York circa 1940-1941, reinterprets the emblematic figure of Princess Margarita, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, of whom Velasquez had painted several portraits, making the Infanta one of the most iconic images in Spanish Baroque painting.
Dali was inspired by the Master's large portrait of the Infanta Margarita of Austria, daughter of Philip IV, painted around 1659. The blonde-haired princess is in the foreground and center of the composition, majestically standing in the embrasure of a heavy red curtain, dressed in a sumptuous gown with a white lace handkerchief in one hand.
With his characteristic eclecticism and fantasy, Dali proposes a strange association. On a black-and-white photograph of a Hindu temple, Dali conjures up the Infanta in gouache and ink. Like an “anamorphic” work, Princess Margarita is entirely made up and structured of architectural elements from the Temple. A trompe-l'œil skilfully imagined by the artist, thanks to a play of transparencies and heterogeneous superimpositions that create volumes and nuances. Despite the complexity of the composition, Dali's virtuosity of execution makes it easy to recognize all the trappings that characterize her: hair, dress, earrings, handkerchief...
This unusual work illustrates Surrealism through the dreamlike juxtaposition of this famous court portrait with an apparently unrelated non-Western architecture. Finally, the bold choice of the Hindu Temple testifies to Dali's interest in religious and mystical themes. In his phantasmagorical imagination, Margarita is not only a princess, but under his brushes she becomes a Saint who he elevates to the rank of immortal divinity, as Velasquez's painting could be for him.
Diego VELASQUEZ (1599-1660)
The Infanta Margaret of Austria, daughter of Philip IV, circa 1659
Oil on canvas
212 x 147 cm
Prado Museum, Madrid