Salvador Dalí

Spanish, 1904 - 1989

Explore Selected Works

Shown from the knees up, an older man sits next to a black, curly-haired poodle on a rough-hewn, stone chair against a vibrant, indigo-blue sky in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s torso is angled slightly to our right but his left leg crosses over his other knee so his legs angle toward us. He looks at us with silvery-blue eyes under gray brows. He has a wide nose, thin, pink lips set in line, and a square jaw. A pale area above his upper lip could be a closely cropped mustache. Wrinkles surround his eyes and line his cheeks and jawline. He wears black trousers and a maroon-red jacket with wide, black lapels and cuffs over an eggshell-white shirt and tie, which is pinned with a silver ball. His right elbow rests on the arm of the chair so his hand rests in his lap. He wears a gold ring on the pinky finger of his other hand, which wraps around the dog’s body. The dog faces and looks at us with gold-rimmed brown eyes, and the dog’s fur is highlighted with icy blue, suggesting a glossy coat. The man and dog sit on what appears to be a sand-brown rock in the general shape of a chair. Behind the man and far below, along the right edge of the canvas, the landscape plummets down to a bright blue body of water, which surrounds a flat-topped, rocky outcropping that comes up to the shoulder level of the man. A cylindrical structure with one window sits next to a line of trees atop the outcropping in the distance. The sky meets the water at the horizon, about a quarter of the way up the canvas, and deepens from arctic white around the outcropping and man to deep cobalt blue around the two gray clouds near the top corners of the painting. A streak of light angles from the cloud to our right down toward the man’s head. The painting is signed and dated at the front of the chair, under the man’s elbow, near the lower left corner: “Pour Chester Dale et Coco Mon Pape Innocent X de Velasquez Salvador Dalí 1958.”
Salvador Dalí, Chester Dale, 1958, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.11

Chester Dale

Salvador Dalí · 1958 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.11

One transparent, ghostly man sits and twelve more people wearing long robes bow over a long table set under a floating, surreal structure in front of a watery landscape in this horizontal painting. The people all have light or tanned skin. At the center of the table opposite us, a man, Jesus, sits facing us with his left hand, to our right, touching his chest and his other hand raised with the thumb and index finger pointing upward. He has long, blond hair, dark brows, and his square jaw is cleanshaven. A piece of white drapery wraps over one shoulder so half of his chest is bare. His body is outlined with light but is transparent so we see the landscape beyond the table through him. Three men are spaced evenly, shoulder by shoulder, to each side of Jesus on the far side of the table. A pair of men sit at each narrow end, and two men sit on our side of the table, one to either side of Jesus. The men on our side kneel at the table, so presumably the rest do as well. They bow their heads low over their praying hands, which rest on the table. Ten of the men wear silvery-white robes. One man to our left wears a lapis-blue cloak and one to our right wears bumblebee yellow. Eight of the men have dark hair, three have gray hair, and one is blond. The table spans the width of the painting, with the short ends to each side receding sharply back in space so there is room for the men there. The parchment-white cloth covering the table is creased deeply where it had been folded. Two pieces of a round loaf of bread, torn in half, are to either side of Jesus near the edge of the table closer to us. A glass tumbler with red liquid sits near Jesus. The scene is lit from the landscape beyond the table, so the people are slightly backlit, and the shadows and the red glow from the glass extend toward us. A structure above the table is suggested by a floating form of interlocking, golden shapes, like an oversized honeycomb, to create a dome-like space. Coffee-brown areas at the upper corners of the painting suggest a ceiling, but the structure fades to transparency as it nears the table. A shimmering body of periwinkle-blue water stretches from behind the table to a row of low, gossamer-white, rocky mountains along the horizon in the distance. One empty, golden yellow rowboat floats in the water, seen past Jesus's left elbow, and a second, indigo-blue boat has been pulled onto a sandy shore to our left. The sky above is topaz blue around a warm, yellow glow emanating from Jesus. A few taupe and cream-white clouds float across the sky. The artist signed the painting in dark brown on the tablecloth in the lower right: “Gala Salvador Dali 1955.”
Salvador Dalí, The Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.115

The Sacrament of the Last Supper

Salvador Dalí · 1955 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.115

Printed with velvety black lines on cream-white paper, a person sits astride a rearing horse in this vertical etching. The horse and rider face our right in profile, and both are densely shaded with curving lines and hatching. The horse’s lips pull back to show a long row of teeth. Its huge eyes look up and its ears are flattened as it rears on its hind legs. Its curly tail cascades down behind its muscular hindquarters. The rider hunches forward so details of the clothing and face are hard to make out, but a profusion of curly hair flares out from under what is probably a helmet. The rider holds a long lance in the left hand, on the far side of the horse, but crosses his body to pierce a serpent-like dragon, which writhes between the horse’s front legs. Human bones, a skull, and a horse’s jawbone lie on the ground beyond some spiky plants. Steep cliffs are lightly etched in the background, and a person, as tall as the cliff face, is bound against the rock. She has long curly hair and a halo. Dark rays emanate down at her from a dark cloud above. The print is signed in the lower margin under the right corner, “Salvador Dalí 1647.”
Salvador Dalí, Fred Becker, Saint George and the Dragon, 1947, etching in black on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1948.11.57

Saint George and the Dragon

Salvador Dalí, Fred Becker · 1947 · etching in black on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1948.11.57

Drawn with curving lines in black ink, a muscular nude person sits astride a rearing horse in this sketch on pink paper. The horse and rider are shown facing our left in profile. The horse’s head, neck, mane, body, and torso are drawn. The front legs are missing as is the hind leg below the knee. A long row of teeth stretches back along the animal’s jaw, and the eye facing us is a skeletal hole. The person riding the horse is missing the arms and face. Their torso leans back as one muscular leg and bare foot sits astride the animal. The person’s hair and the horse’s mane and tail are drawn with curling, nested lines. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner of the sheet, “Salvador Dali 19 mai 1937.”
Salvador Dalí, Horseman, 1937, pen and black ink on pink paper, Gift of Howard Sturges, 1956.9.14

Horseman

Salvador Dalí · 1937 · pen and black ink on pink paper ·  Accession ID  1956.9.14

Salvador Dalí, Fantastic Beach Scene, 1935, etching in sepia on chine collé on Arches paper, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, 2017.15.1

Fantastic Beach Scene

Salvador Dalí · 1935 · etching in sepia on chine collé on Arches paper ·  Accession ID  2017.15.1

Salvador Dalí, Les Chants de Maldoror, 1934 (signed 1936), heliogravure reworked in drypoint on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.2909

Les Chants de Maldoror

Salvador Dalí · 1934 (signed 1936) · heliogravure reworked in drypoint on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.2909

Salvador Dalí, Roger Lacourière, Grasshopper Child (Enfant sauterelle), 1933, engraving on wove paper, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, 1971.86.9

Grasshopper Child (Enfant sauterelle)

Salvador Dalí, Roger Lacourière · 1933 · engraving on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1971.86.9

Salvador Dalí, Luther Greene Calling Card, engraving in dark brown on heavy wove paper, Gift of William B. O'Neal, 1988.69.1

Luther Greene Calling Card

Salvador Dalí · · engraving in dark brown on heavy wove paper ·  Accession ID  1988.69.1