“The ideal thing for me is one that is absolutely not suitable for anything. You cannot write with this object, you cannot remove excess hair and you cannot call. This item cannot be placed on a masterpiece or placed on a Louis XIV chest of drawers. You just need to wear this thing, and it is a piece of jewelry ”- S. Dali.
Brooch "Ruby lips with teeth like pearls", 1958
Salvador Dali has repeatedly convinced the world of the universality of his talent. He had been hatching the idea of his own collection of jewelry with a unique surreal charm for many years, but he was finally able to bring his ideas to life when he met the talented jeweler Carlos Alemani.
Born in Buenos Aires, Alemani was conductor of a tango orchestra back in the 1930s and toured Latin America, Europe and the United States. In the 1940s, he began studying jewelry in New York, and having met Dali in the 1950s, he was able to realize the wild fantasies of the genius of surrealism. The designers collaborated until 1971.
S. Dali, K. Alemani "The Eye of Time", 1949, platinum, diamonds, ruby, enamel, Movado 50SP movement. Photo: www. artsy
The jewelry was made from luxurious precious stones brought from Congo - emeralds, sapphires, lapis lazuli, malachite.
Dali came up with the design, he selected the materials for each piece, focusing not only on the color, shape and value of the material, but also on the symbolic meanings attributed to precious stones and precious metals.
Model showing jewelry pieces by Salvador Dali
According to Dali's sketches, jeweler Carlos Alemani created 37 pieces of jewelry and two more were created after the artist's death. In total, there are 39 jewelry works in the world based on the sketches of Salvador Dali. Since the war in 1941, when Dali lives and works in the USA, the company of New York jewelers "Alemany & Ertman" brings the master's fantasies to life under his control. One by one, works of art, "painted" with precious materials, are born.
Sketches of jewelry by Salvador Dali in the Dali-Joies exhibition hall of the Dali Theater-Museum in Figueres
The first 22 pieces were purchased by the American millionaire Cummins Catherwood, and in 1958 the Owen Chaezam Foundation became the owner of the collection, which also bought all Dali's subsequent jewelry creations. In 1981, the surreal jewelry became the property of a Saudi multimillionaire, who then sold the collection piece by piece to three legal entities in Japan. One of these buyers subsequently initiated the return of jewelry masterpieces to their homeland, to Spain.
In 1999, the Gala - Salvador Dali Foundation bought the precious collection created by the genius Spaniard for 900 million pesetas (5.5 million euros). Today, 39 pieces of jewelry, born of Dalí's surreal fantasies, can be seen in the Musée Theater in Figueres, in the Galatea Tower, where a permanent exhibition hall has been created for them.
Space Elephant, 1961
Salvador Dali's jewelry collection is a one-of-a-kind set of jewelry with an amazing combination of subjects, materials, sizes and shapes - a recognizable and unique style of the maestro. Gold, platinum, precious stones, pearls and corals are no longer just expensive materials. They did not even become earrings, brooches or necklaces, but turned into hearts, lips, eyes, flowers, animals and anthropomorphic forms, religious and mythological symbols.
S. Dali "Living Flower", 1959. Gold, diamonds, malachite base
Among the jewelry fantasies of Salvador Dali: the favorite image of the surrealist - "The Space Elephant" (1961), exciting and sensual "Ruby Lips" (1949), "Living Flower", "Eye of Time" with a teardrop in the corner, "Bleeding World" (1953) ) and, of course, the "Royal Heart" that Gala asked for. True, Dali dedicated the mechanical heart to the coronation of Elizabeth II.
Luxurious ruby and no doubt living heart: 46 rubies, 42 diamonds and 4 emeralds are combined into a single precious composition. It is made in such a way that the moving center "beats" like a real heart.
"Royal Heart" with a pulsating middle, 1953
"Living" ruby heart
Some of Dali's works have mechanisms and can move. The "Living Flower" opens and closes the petals-hands, the "Ruby Heart" beats, and the "Fallen Angel" flaps its wings.
S. Dali, K. Alemani. Brooch "Honeycomb Heart", 1949, gold, diamonds, rubies
S. Dali. Interlocking necklace (Choreographic necklace), c. 1964, gold, diamonds, amethyst, sapphire
S. Dali "Swan Lake", 1959, gold, diamonds, aquamarines, emeralds, sapphires, rock crystal. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali "Hand in the form of a leaf", 1949, gold, emerald, rubies. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali, K. Alemani "Pax Vobiscum", 1968, gold, diamonds, quartz, painting on wood. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali "Cross Branch", 1959, gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, emeralds. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali "The Grape of Immortality". "Angel of Eternity", 1970. Gold, amethysts, emeralds, smoky quartz. Photo: Richard Lozin
Brooch "Persistence of Memory", 1949
The address of the museum where the exhibition is located, opening hours, ticket prices, and other useful information you can find it on the official website of the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation.
Author - Maya_Peshkova. This is a quote from this post
- What do you want, my heart? What do you want, my heart?
- A beating ruby heart!
Dialogue between El Salvador and Gala
Masterpieces are like children. For their birth, it turns out, it also takes two. She is the inspiration, he is the performer. The duet of Gala and Salvador Dali is the perfect proof of this, offering the genius realization of her every mad desire. She wanted shine and luxury - he began to come up with jewelry.
Jewelry collection of the Gala - Salvador Dali Foundation - a luxurious legacy of a genius
The history of Salvador Dali's jewelry collection begins in 1941. Dali drew sketches on paper, carefully working out all the details. Dali invented the names for all the decorations himself ...
Veined Leaf, 1953
The first 22 pieces were purchased by the American millionaire Cummins Catherwood, and in 1958 the Owen Chaezam Foundation became the owner of the collection, which also bought all Dali's subsequent jewelry creations.
Woven, 1964
By 1970, Salvador Dali had invented 39 sketches and, in collaboration with talented jewelers, created 37 pieces of jewelry that became part of the museum's permanent exhibition. fine arts Virginia in Richmond.
The Persistence of Memory, 1949.
In August and September 1973, a year before the opening of the theater-museum, the precious collection was shown in Figueres as part of a temporary exhibition. In 1981, the surreal jewelry became the property of a Saudi multimillionaire, who then sold the collection piece by piece to three legal entities in Japan.
Honeycomb heart.
Gold, round diamonds, round and oval rubiesOne of these buyers subsequently initiated the return of jewelry masterpieces to their homeland, to Spain.
Ruby Lips, 1952
The brooch was created for the actress Paulette Godard
- the muses of Chaplin and Remarque.Women's lips have inspired Dali since the 1930s, when it was the smile of the controversial star Mae West, to whom the famous portrait room is dedicated.
"Mae West's face used as a surreal room"
1934-1935In 1999, the Gala - Salvador Dali Foundation bought the precious collection created by the genius Spaniard for 900 million pesetas (5.5 million euros). Today, 39 jewelry (2 items were made according to the artist's sketches after his death), born of Dali's surreal fantasies, can be seen in the theater museum in Fergas, in the Galatea tower, where a permanent exhibition hall has been created for them.
Salvador Dali's jewelry collection is a one-of-a-kind set of jewelry with an amazing combination of subjects, materials, sizes and shapes - a recognizable and unique style of the maestro. Gold, platinum, precious stones, pearls and corals are no longer just expensive materials.
Tree of life necklace, 1949
They did not even become earrings, brooches or necklaces, but turned into hearts, lips, eyes, flowers, animals and anthropomorphic forms, religious and mythological symbols.
Angel Cross, 1960
Among the jewelry fantasies of Salvador Dali: the favorite image of the surrealist - "The Space Elephant" (1961), exciting and sensual "Ruby Lips" (1949), "Living Flower", "Eye of Time" with a teardrop in the corner, "Bleeding World" (1953) ) and, of course, the "Royal Heart" that Gala asked for. A luxurious ruby and, without a doubt, a living heart: 46 rubies, 42 diamonds and 4 emeralds are combined into a single precious composition. It is made in such a way that the moving center "beats" like a real heart.
Royal Heart, 1953. Its middle pulsates like a real heart.
Creating a jewelry miracle, Salvador Dali did not forget for a minute about the “enthusiastic audience”, leaving a riddle in each of his products and as if inviting the audience to look for the answer: “Without an audience, without the presence of spectators, these products will not be able to fulfill the function for which they were created ... The viewer thus becomes the ultimate artist.
His gaze, heart and mind, with more or less ability to perceive the intentions of the creator, fill the jewelry with life. "
Sketches of jewelry, displayed next to some of the items, allow you to "peep" the thoughts of the master, to follow how a masterpiece is born from an idea.
Listen to these amazing creations. Do you hear? They live and breathe.
Here the image smoothly opens and closes with a precious stone.
And again Dali with his jokes - at the top of the stairs, everyone is confused and trying to enter the mirrors, although the passage is there on the right.
All Dali jewelry is transformed into hearts, lips, eyes, flowers, animals, religious and mythological symbols. Many of them are not intended to be worn at all.
Cross made of golden cubes, 1959.
Lapis lazuli cross.
Gold, platinum (rays), round diamonds, natural rubies cabochons, polished lapis lazuli plates.
Shoot Cross, 1959.
Fallen Angel, 1963.
Flower of Life, 1959.
Swan Lake, 1959.
... Spider of the Night, 1962.
The Light of Christ, 1953.
Daphne, 1967.
Dolphins and Mermaids, 1969.
Space Elephant, 1961.
Space elephantGold, natural emeralds, rubies, diamonds, on the back of an elephant - a polished crystal of aquamarine, at the base - a large untreated crystal of aquamarine. Watches with an Omega movement. The theme of an elephant on long and thin stilt legs is often found in Dali's works. The prototype was "Bernini's elephant" - a statue of an elephant with an obelisk on its back, installed in Rome. But Bernini's elephant has normal legs, although it looks like a pig, because great sculptor never saw this animal and created a monument according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses.
"Elephants", 1948
Psychedelic flower
Gold, natural stones.
Flower stones: blue - sapphire, spinel, aquamarine; yellow - zircon; pink - spinel, pomegranate; red - spinel, pomegranate.
Stones flower pot: spinels, rough ruby crystals, polished lapis lazuli plates. Inside the pot there is a mechanism that rotates the flower.
Madonna aquamarine. Aquamarine in a gold medallion depicting Madonna. The crown of Our Lady is covered with diamonds. When the medallion turns over, the face of the Madonna becomes the face of Christ.
A bleeding world. The suffering of a world divided by war and chaos. In a medallion dedicated to war, a pearl arrow holds the world together, symbolizing the love of Christ and my hope for peace.
Later, in his diary for September 1958 (Port Ligat, Ie), Dali will tell about it this way: “... As soon as I walked to my table to finally sit down, I was summoned to the next table, where they asked, I disagree whether I make an egg out of enamel in the Faberge style. "
Below is the Grape of Immortality, 1970.
Creating sketches of products, the artist drew the details to the smallest detail, and in the comments indicated the exact description of the material and color. He selected the stones himself and meticulously followed the work of the jeweler, who brought his ideas to life. I used jewelry only with a rich, luscious palette: snow-white pearls, deep red rubies, dark blue sapphires, dazzling gold, shiny, without patina, silver.
Brooch-watch Eye of Time.
Ruby cabochon, round diamonds and baguette.Composition Living flower. Gold, round diamonds, Congolese malachite.
Brooch Ophelia.Gold, natural citrine, faceted with a hexagon, green marquise-cut demantoid garnets, natural pearls.
Brooch Tristan and Isolde, 1953
Tristan and Isolde. The silhouettes of the lovers form a bowl, which in turn symbolizes the possible abundance of love between a man and a woman.
Gold, platinum, diamonds, almandine garnet (triangular cabochon). The same legend about fatal love reflected in a painting painted in 1944S. Dali
Tristan and Isolde
The petal arms move, the flower opens and closes.
The mechanism that drives the petals is housed in a malachite block.The "pave" (track) bezel creates the illusion that the entire surface of the rim, which gracefully outlines the eye, is covered with diamonds. This principle of fixing diamonds resembles the technique of paving roads: small round stones are located in the grooves of the "path".
“With my jewelry, I would like to protest the value attached to the price of the material used by the jewelers. I strive to ensure that the art of the master is appreciated as it is - the design and craftsmanship should be valued above the value of precious stones, as it was in the Renaissance. "
(Commentary by S. Dali to his jewelry collection, 1959).Composition "Explosion".
Platinum, natural pear-shaped rubies and oval, round diamonds, irregularly shaped polished lapis lazuli plates, fluorite crystal.Ring Corset
Gold, cut diamonds, pearls.Below are non-precious reproductions by Margot Townsend, released under the exclusive license of the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation.
Dali's jewelry is not just brooches, rings, pendants. These are precious compositions, each of which contains a plot that is combined with material, form and performance.
In Europe, as Hermann Schadt points out, the demonstration of Dali's jewelry works first took place in 1971. The author reports that “... his works were often ridiculed as kitsch, however, today the situation is changing to a fairer one, and these works can be defined as a special expression of surrealism, which can be seen as one of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century. "
And finally, take a look at the video about how some products work - this is Dali's confession in true love... Thanks to his beloved woman of genius, the world received not only artistic, but also precious masterpieces. All of the artist's products are unique and filled with strange, wild beauty combined with the luxury of material and sophisticated workmanship.
Original post and comments on
For some reason, not everyone knows that apart from his contribution to painting, this artist managed to excite a lot of connoisseurs of jewelry.
Hardly anyone could have formulated the meaning of Dali's jewelry works more precisely than the artist himself did, albeit allegorically. The first of the "Ten Rules for Those Who Want to Become an Artist" reads "... Learn to make your brush give birth to gold and precious stones" Just in case, the other nine:
2. Do not be afraid of perfection: you will never achieve it!
3. First things first, learn to write and paint like the old masters. Then you can write the way you want, everyone will respect you.
4. Do not lose your eyes, hand, let alone your head, if you become an artist, they will be useful to you.
5. If you are one of those who believe that contemporary art has surpassed the art of Vermere and Raphael, do not take this book and dwell in blissful idiocy.
6. Do not be careless in painting, otherwise, after your death, painting itself will neglect you.
7. Laziness has no masterpieces!
8. Artist, paint!
9. Artist, do not drink alcohol and do not smoke hashish more than five times in your entire life.
10. If painting does not love you, all your love for it will be ineffectual.
Tristan and Isolde. The silhouettes of the lovers form a bowl, which in turn symbolizes the possible abundance of love between a man and a woman.
But the problem is that today we can name only a few publications dedicated to the results of the development of jewelry art in the 20th century, where the name of the artist is mentioned and attempts are made to define his role in this process. In 1985, in New York, a book by the English critic Barbara Cartlidge “Jewelry of the Twentieth Century” was published, summarizing the results of the century, where the name of Dali was named among the outstanding artists of the XX century, who in the post-war 1940s - 1950s. work in the field of artistic jewelry.
The author of the book, the owner of the famous London jewelry gallery "Electrum", highly appreciates the importance of Dali's jewelry works. She notes that, unlike Pablo Piikasso, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder and Georges Braque, who were engaged in jewelry art from time to time, “Dali works in this area all the time: his drawings, made by highly skilled artisans, constitute an important part of his contribution to art in general. ", - and further:" The extraordinary collection of his surreal jewelry made of gold and precious stones with mechanisms, like a beating heart, shocks the world of familiar jewelry art with its audacity and extravagance.
Space elephant.
Madonna aquamarine. Aquamarine in a gold medallion depicting Madonna. The crown of Our Lady is covered with diamonds. When the medallion turns over, the face of the Madonna becomes the face of Christ.
German historian Hermann Schadt spoke somewhat more definitely about Dali's jewelry works in the book “The Art of Goldsmiths. 5000 years of jewelry and tableware ":" The jewelry design of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali illustrates the combination of various spheres of his interests: that the space of cumulative pictorial concepts can be transformed into decoration ... "
For the first time, Dali turned to the creation of jewelry in 1941. Dali drew detailed sketches with comments and indication of materials. His ideas were embodied by the jeweler and family friend Carlos Alemani. " Business card"Of all these treasures there was color saturation: the" sunniest "yellow gold, rubies, the whitest pearls, blood corals, the most colorful emeralds, deep blue sapphires, dazzlingly pure silver ... Not a trace of fashionable color mutedness and Art Nouveau ambiguity.
Result:
Further, while in the United States between 1942 and 1944, Dali, together with the House of Verdur, creates jewelry inspired by the "general nostalgia for the Renaissance." Here in the war years, on the one hand, the cocktail style continues to dominate. On the other hand, there are favorable conditions for the implementation of original creative concepts in the modernization of the objective world, brought by artists-emigrants from Europe.
The very atmosphere of the artistic culture of the United States of these years created fertile soil for an extraordinary expansion of the range of artist's interests. In warring Europe, experiments in jewelry were unthinkable. During all these years, the production of jewelry as a luxury item was subject to high taxes. In the post-war years, jewelry made in traditional design was in special demand in Europe. They to the greatest extent responded to the aspirations prevailing in society to restore the measured rhythm of life destroyed by the war.
The situation begins to change only in the late 1940s, when the period of “celebrating the world” ends and the need for change arises in the more conservative “small arts”. Dali jewelry works of the late 1940s. is the materialized development of his picturesque images. Researchers have repeatedly noted that not a single detail can be thrown out of Dali's paintings. But it is also important that they are literally saturated with artistic aphorisms that have become iconic symbols of the 20th century.
My goal- show Jewelry Art in its true meaning. Design and craftsmanship should be worth more than precious stones and metals, as was the case during the Renaissance. "
More eloquent than other details of the decoration are the author's facsimile. Although it is placed on the reverse side of the watch, it is clearly visible in the very center of the composition. This is the painter's habit and, at the same time, a tribute to the increased at the turn of the 1940-1950s. demand for artistic jewelry. Previously, jewelers also put their signatures on products, but always on the reverse side. Now, jewelry from Dali, as well as from other great masters, have become signs of belonging to the elite, and this has acquired a special meaning.
A bleeding world. The suffering of a world divided by war and chaos. In a medallion dedicated to war, a pearl arrow holds the world together, symbolizing the love of Christ and my hope for peace.
Later, in his diary for September 1958 (Port Ligat, Ie), Dali will tell about it this way: “... As soon as I walked to my table to finally sit down, I was summoned to the next table, where they asked, I disagree whether I make an egg out of enamel in the Faberge style. "
The next decade was especially fruitful for the Dali jeweler. During this period, he created his most famous works - the "Eye of Time" brooch-watch, "Ruby Heart", and the "Ruby Lips" brooch. Compositions from the 1950s. gradually acquire a certain integrity, which is indirectly confirmed by their relative independence. Relative, because the original ideas are still realized in painting; not as literally as in the 1940s, reproduced in jewelry.
The creation of the "Eye of Time" brooch (1949 or 1951) was preceded not by a specific pictorial composition, but by the artist's diverse theme of "vision". In a piece of jewelry, all stages of the "expanded to infinity meaning" of a painting are accumulated in a symbolic sign of time - a clock enclosed in the pupil of the eye, not without grace, outlined with diamonds in a "pave" setting.
Man cannot avoid your fate, or run away from time. The eye sees everything: both the present and the future
Opens and closes like a beautiful flower, showing the world stamens and petals with diamonds. Flowers, in the form of hands, always directed upward towards the light. Malachite from Congo, hides a mechanism - a simple counterbalance system that brings jewelry to life.
To an even greater extent, the development of a work of applied art as a "plastic philosophical metaphor", the artist reflected in a surrealistic object "Ruby Heart", 1953. According to Dali's version, his birth was preceded by a story recorded in his diary for September 1958:
“... Wanting to thank Gala for the explosive pomegranate apple, I repeated:
What do you want, my heart? What do you want, my heart? And she answered with a new gift for me: - A beating heart made of ruby! ...
My art soaks up into physics, mathematics, architecture, nuclear physics - from psychology to mysticism, not only paintings and jewelry.
Brooch "Ruby lips with teeth like pearls", 1958 created by Dali for the actress Paulette Godard. This sensual image has not left the artist for decades. He first appeared in May West's 1934-1936 painting. Then, in the early 1970s, in the interior of one of the rooms of his house in Figueres in the form of surrealistic sculpture.
Once convinced himself of the universality of his talent, Salvador Dali made the whole world believe in it. As a jewelry designer, he has created a lavish collection of 37 pieces with a unique surreal charm.
“The ideal thing for me is one that is absolutely not suitable for anything. You cannot write with this object, you cannot remove excess hair and you cannot call. This item cannot be placed on a masterpiece or placed on a Louis XIV chest of drawers. You just need to wear this thing, and it is a piece of jewelry. "
S. Dali
Salvador Dali next to his work "Ruby Heart". Photo: www. salvador-dali.org
S. Dali, K. Alemani "The Eye of Time", 1949, platinum, diamonds, ruby, enamel, Movado 50SP movement. Photo: www. artsy
"Uselessness is the first condition of luxury"
S. Dali
Some of Salvador Dali's jewelry fantasies have become cult works of art in the twentieth century - the artist's beloved “Space Elephant”, “Eye of Time” with a teardrop in the corner, thrillingly sensual “Ruby Lips” and the pulsating “Royal Heart”.
S. Dali "Ruby lips", 1949, rubies, pearls
A Catalan surrealist meets a Sicilian duke-jeweler at an abandoned American farm
In 1941, Salvador Dali and Gala stayed with Caresse Crosby, an American publisher at her estate in Virginia, with whom the artist had a friendship since the days of Paris. In 1934, Karess sponsored his first trip to America. The godmother of the Parisian writers of the “lost generation,” as Caresse Crosby was called, edited Dali's autobiography.
Salvador Dali, Gala and Caresse Crosby at Hampton House, Virginia, 1941
Dali, it seems, was so depressed that he began to work in nature, although earlier the artist did not like to paint in the open air, preferring a cozy studio. He was captivated by the history of the old South and he summoned the ghost spirits - the inhabitants of the Hampton House farm. The snowy weather suggested a black and white composition and a funny picture was born in the surrealist's imagination, which he called "The Effect of Ten Little Indians, Black Piano and Two Black Piglets on the Snow."
S. Dali at work on the composition "Effect of Ten Little Indians, Black Piano and Two Black Piglets on the Snow", 1941
Caresse Crosby invited the Italian designer, Duke Fulco di Verdura, to introduce him to Dali, suggesting their further collaboration. Verdura had just acquired a name and a good reputation by that time, having worked for several years as a textile designer for Coco Chanel. In 1939 he opened his own jewelry salon in NYC.
Apparently, in order to test the guest, Dali decided to play a prank on the designer. Arriving in Hampton Manor, the young duke was horrified: instead of the elegant mansion that he imagined, he was greeted by a dilapidated house without electricity and heat.
Verdura later described a truly surreal meeting with Dali at the old Hampton Manor:
“It was deathly cold in the living room. Everyone was wearing their coats. I took off my coat when I entered the house and, numb with cold, could not ask for it back. Dali kept repeating: "This is Picasso's workshop." I have never been to Picasso's workshop, but I was told that there is the same poverty as during his Blue Period. "
Fulco di Verdura "Fulco's Arrival in Virginia", watercolor
It later turned out that everything was set up by Dali, and Verdura, who also loved practical jokes, quickly found mutual language with a surrealist, well, and Crosby's house seemed to him "a picture of comfort and delight." In the end, Verdura called his visit "a huge success" because he and the artist began work on the jewelry, which was first shown in an exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1941 alongside paintings by Dali, and later at an exhibition by Dali and Miró at the Museum of Modern Art.
The work of Salvador Dali
F. di Verdura "Apollo and Daphne", gold, pink tourmaline, turquoise, rubies. Miniature drawing by Salvador Dali
Saint Sebastian from the 2016 collection from the House of Verdura, based on the work of Verdura and Dali.
“Fulko and I tried to find out if gems were born for painting or painting for precious stones. We are sure that they were born for each other. This is a love marriage "
S. Dali
Designed by F. di Verdura brooch "Medusa", 1941, parchment, gouache. Miniature drawing belongs to Salvador Dali
Cigarette case Spider. 1941 year. Gold, antique ivory, opals, pearls, lacquer, miniature painting - Salvador Dali
Carlos Alemani
In the 1950s, Dali dreamed of more complex and fantastic jewelry projects, moreover, he no longer took part in general exhibitions of surrealists - they excluded him from their movement. Dali proclaimed himself a universal master, like those who worked during the Renaissance:
“As a paladin of the new Renaissance, I also refuse to limit myself. Apart from painting, my art includes physics, mathematics, architecture, nuclear science (psycho-nuclear, mystical-nuclear) and jewelry art. " During the Renaissance, great masters did not confine themselves to one single medium of expression. Leonardo da Vinci's genius goes far beyond painting. His scientific spirit comprehended in the depths of the sea and in the air the possibility of miracles that have become a reality today. Benvenuto Cellini, Botticelli and da Luca processed precious stones for jewelry, created extraordinary beauty goblets and ornamental bowls trimmed with stones ".
S. Dali "The Chalice of Life", 1963, gold, yellow diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, papis-lazuli, with a mechanism that set in motion the wings of butterflies. Photo: Richard Lozin
Tango Together: Dali Meets Carlos Alemani
Dali's wish came true with the appearance of the jeweler Carlos Alemani in his life.
Born in Buenos Aires, Carlos Alemani was a tango orchestra conductor back in the 1930s and toured Latin America, Europe and the United States. In the 1940s, he began studying jewelry in New York, and having met Dali in the 1950s, he was able to realize the wild fantasies of the genius of surrealism. The designers collaborated until 1971.
The jewelry was made from luxurious precious stones brought from Congo - emeralds, sapphires, lapis lazuli, malachite.
Dali came up with the design, he selected the materials for each piece, focusing not only on the color, shape and value of the material, but also on the symbolic meanings attributed to precious stones and precious metals.
S. Dali "Royal Heart", 1953, gold, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines, chrysolite, garnets, amethyst, pearls
Some of Dali's works have mechanisms and can move. The "Living Flower" opens and closes the petals-hands, the "Ruby Heart" beats, and the "Fallen Angel" flaps its wings.
S. Dali "Living Flower", 1959. Fragment. Photo: www.cienpiesviajes.wordpress.com
S. Dali "Living Flower", 1959. Gold, diamonds, malachite base
S. Dali "Living Flower", 1959
Until 1970, the genius of surrealism created a total of 39 sketches, which were used to make 37 pieces of jewelry. The first 22 pieces were purchased by the American millionaire Cummins Catherwood, and in 1958 the Owen Chaezam Foundation became the owner of the collection, which also bought all of Dali's subsequent jewelry creations. In 1981, the collection became the property of a Saudi tycoon, and then was sold to three collectors in Japan.
In 1999, the Gala Foundation - Salvador Dali bought the jewelry collection for 5.5 million euros. Today, 39 adornments, born of Dalí's surreal fantasies, can be seen at the Musée Theater in Figueres.
S. Dali "The Grape of Immortality". "Angel of Eternity", 1970. Fragment. Gold, amethysts, emeralds, smoky quartz. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali "The Grape of Immortality". "Angel of Eternity", 1970. Gold, amethysts, emeralds, smoky quartz. Photo: Richard Lozin
“The difference between real jewelry and fake jewelry is that the counterfeit always looks more real - more sparkling. Therefore, a very tempting idea appears - to make real jewelry so deceiving that it could look like fake "-
S. Dali
S. Dali, K. Alemani. Brooch "Honeycomb Heart", 1949, gold, diamonds, rubies
S. Dali. Interlocking necklace (Choreographic necklace), c. 1964, gold, diamonds, amethyst, sapphire
S. Dali "Swan Lake", 1959, gold, diamonds, aquamarines, emeralds, sapphires, rock crystal. Photo: Richard Lozin
“Anthropomorphic themes appear over and over again in my jewelry. I see the human form in trees, leaves, animals; I see animal and plant outlines in people ...
… My art in painting, diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, gold, chrysolite shows how metamorphoses take place; people create and change themselves. When they sleep, they transform into flowers, plants, trees. A new transformation takes place in Heaven. The body again becomes the crown of creation and reaches perfection. "
S. Dali "Hand in the form of a leaf", 1949, gold, emerald, rubies. Photo: Richard Lozin"In jewelry, and in all my creative activity, I create what I love the most ... In my works, the logarithmic law is emphasized, as well as the relationship between spirit and matter, between space and time."
S. Dali
S. Dali "Cross Branch", 1959, gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, emeralds. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali, K. Alemani "Pax Vobiscum", 1968, gold, diamonds, quartz, painting on wood. Photo: Richard Lozin
S. Dali "Cross Branch", 1959, gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, emeralds. Photo: Richard Lozin
They gave about the relationship between time and space:
“I have been aware of the connection between time and space since childhood. However, my invention of the “soft watch” - first in painting and then in 1950 in gold and precious stones - led to a division of opinions: on the one hand, approval and understanding, and on the other, skepticism and distrust.Today in American schools my “soft hours” show as a prophetic expression of the fluidity of time - the indivisibility of time and space. The speed of travel in our time (space travel) confirms this belief. Time is not frozen, it is fluid. "
S. Dali "The Persistence of Memory", 1949, gold, diamonds, enamel, watch with a Jaeger LeCoultre 426 movement
S. Dali, K. Alemani. Clip-on earphones Telephones, 1949, gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds
They gave about the frivolity of some jewelry that he himself invented:
“They are illusory! Dali's jewelry is completely serious. I'm glad people smile when they look at the earrings. A smile is nice. But these earrings, like all my jewelry work, are serious. They represent the ear, a symbol of harmony and unity. Mean speed modern means communication, hope and danger in an instant change of thought. "
In the photo above. 1. Madonna Aquamarine, 1953, gold, diamonds, aquamarine. 2. Bleeding world, gold, diamonds, rubies, pearls. 3. Ophelia, 1953, gold, quartz, garnet, pearls. 4. Peace medal, 1954, gold, diamonds, lapis lazuli. 5. Snail ring, 1949, gold, diamonds, sapphire. 6. Ring Corset, 1949, gold, diamonds, pearls.
But what, according to Dali, is the most valuable?
"Decorated precious stones products - ornaments, medals, crosses, art objects - were not conceived to remain inert in armored cells. They were created to please the eye, cheer up, awaken the imagination and express beliefs ... "
S. Dali, K. Alemani "Heart of a Pomegranate", 1949, gold, diamonds, rubies
“… Without an audience, without the presence of spectators, these jewels will not fulfill the functions for which they were created. Thus, the viewer becomes their last creator - the viewer's eye, heart and mind, merging with more or less understanding of the artist's intentions, give them life. "
Salvador Dali
Dali possessed not only "constancy of memory", but also constancy in matters of the heart, which is very rare for representatives of bohemia. Gala was his muse, girlfriend, wife, lover. For his beloved, Dali made a luxurious "Ruby Heart" brooch, decorated with 46 rubies, 42 diamonds and 4 emeralds. The mechanism inside the brooch makes "Dali's heart" still beat.
Salvador Dali and Gala. Spain. Photo: Jerry Cooke / Corbis
The publication used materials: theadventurine.com, vickielester.com, salvador-dali.org and Comments of Salvador Dali to the catalog of the jewelry collection, 1959. Title illustration: Photograph by Philippe Halsman "Salvador Dali with his Eye of Time", 1947.