Art

Item Description

Spanish artist and Surrealist icon Salvador Dalí is perhaps best known for his painting of melting clocks, The Persistence of Memory. Most people are unaware that Dali moved away from Surrealism into a classical period, creating pieces such as Autumn.

Click here to view a larger image of Autumn

This auction manager had the good fortune to speak with Bernard Ewell, an international Salvador Dali expert, art columnist and blogger, lecturer and professor of Valuation Law. Mr. Ewell authenticated this second-edition print saying: 

                 This print offers the collector the full range and
                 impact of Salvador Dali's genius and draftsmanship.
                 It is an original print but was not hand signed by         
                 the artist because it was published in an extended
                 edition.

This masterpiece is best described as an original drypoint from a steel-faced plate.  Someone with an untrained eye would probably look at Autumn and refer to it as an etching. Dali didn't make etchings, rather he created drypoints, a form of intaglio that contemporary artists use the most. Drypoint lines are scratched into a plate with a sharp point; Dali used a diamond point. His works were "quickly executed, out of his head, down his arm, and onto the plate," (B. Ewell) evidence of his genius. In the drypoint process, the metal shaving rise up, out of and along the outer edge of the groove, much the way a farmer creates a berm on either side of a row he's plowing. It's this heavier, fuzzier, velvety line edge that distinguishes drypoints the width of the lines are not uniform. The width of the line in an etching are uniform.

Leslie Zumwalt, owner of Frame of Mind, has reframed Autumn, endowing this treasure using her expert skills and museum-quality materials: an acid-free mat and backing, UV blocking acrylic glass, and a frame.

The winning bidder will also receive an autographed copy of Mr. Ewell's book, Artful Dodgers - Fraud & Foolishness in the Art Market.

Item Special Note

The Ceres Community Project thanks Sally Walker for donating Autumn; Bernard Ewell for donating his time and expertise to authenticate and appraise the Dali; to appraiser Lissa Cooley in Petaluma, CA for referring Ceres to Mr. Ewell, and; to Leslie Zumwalt at Frame of Mind in Forestville, CA, for referring us to Ms. Cooley and donating her expert skills to reframe this and other auction masterpieces. 

Autumn is matted and framed.

At auction close, item will be available to pick up in Sebastopol on a designated day or it can be mailed at the winning bidder's expense at specialized and insured industry rates. Ceres Community Project is not responsible for items lost or damaged during shipping.