Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
“Nude Ascending the Staircase: Homage to Marcel Duchamps” (a.k.a. “Nu Montant L’Escalier”)
(1973)
Medium-scale Bronze
Edition #AP5/49 (Fonderia Bonvicini, Verone, Italy)
Height: 25cm (9.8 inches)
Literature: Descharnes, Robert & Nicolas “Le Dur et le Mou” catalogue, pg. 162-163, Ref #412
The concept behind this piece is found in Nu Descendant un escalier, numéro 2, a pre-Dadaist piece presented by Marcel Duchamp in the Dalmau Gallery in Barcelona in 1912 at the “First Cubist exhibition” held in Spain.
Nothing could please Dali more, than to pay tribute to his friend Marcel Duchamp by creating the ironic opposite to the famous divisionist painting; hence this beautiful realistic body – which reminds us in the form of Gala, climbing up the spirals in a marine shell, symbol of universal life and eternity. All together, the piece exudes reflection and eroticism.