SALVADOR DALI (Spanish, 1904-1989)
TITLE: “Nude Ascending the Staircase”
(Monumental-scale bronze: 215cm tall/85 inches)
The sculpture is in excellent condition and the edition is certified by Robert Descharnes (the Gold-Standard of Dali certification), and accredited by the Gala-SalvadorDali Foundation in Figueras, Spain. Further, this edition is noted in the comprehensive catalogue raisonne ofDali sculpture by the late Robert & Nicolas Descharnes, “Le Dur et le Mou” pgs. 162-163, Ref #412.
The concept behind this piece is found in Nu Descendant un escalier, numéro 2 (Shown at LEFT), a pre-Dadaist piece presented by French-Born American Painter Marcel Duchamp in the Dalmau Gallery in Barcelona in 1912 at the “First Cubist exhibition” held in Spain (Now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art). The painting caused an international uproar and upheaval in the art community. No one had ever seen anything like it. So, nothing would please Dali more, than to pay tribute to his friend Marcel Duchamp by creating the ironic opposite to the famous divisionist painting. Hence we are left with 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. Altogether, the piece exudes reflection and eroticism.
