Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Le Tricorne (El sombrero de tres picos)

SALVADOR DALÍ (1904–1989) LE TRICORNE — THE THREE-CORN HODE Collection of original color wood engravings — 1959 Artist: Salvador Dalí (Figueres, 1904–1989). Work: Le Tricorne, original illustrations for the famous Spanish literary work El sombrero de tres picos, by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. Edition year: 1959. Publishers: Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, and Nouveau Cercle Parisien du Livre, Paris. Technique: Original color woodcut, carved and printed by the Bracons-Duplessis workshops. Support: Artisanal engraving paper. The original edition was made on Auvergne paper by Richard de Bas, with a special watermark of the tricorne. Dimensions: 32 × 25.5 cm per plate. Original edition: Limited edition of 260 numbered copies. Edition composition: 20 original color woodcuts, including the frontispiece. Bibliographic references: * Michler & Löpsinger, Salvador Dalí. Catalogue Raisonné of Prints, volume II, numbers 1018–1037. * Albert Field, The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí, reference 59-1, pages 20–21. * Christie’s, Important Old Books, Books of Art and Manuscripts, auction 5415, lot 285. * Swann Galleries, auction 2392, lot 585. Description Magnificent collection of Salvador Dalí’s original graphic work, belonging to his famous Le Tricorne series, created in 1959 to illustrate the master Spanish costumbrista literature El sombrero de tres picos, written by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. This extraordinary bibliophilic edition constitutes one of the most attractive graphic projects of the Catalan master during the 1950s, blending Dalí’s surreal universe with literary tradition, folklore, and the popular characters of 19th-century Spain. Through its illustrations, Dalí transforms the episodes of the well-known novel into compositions of great imagination, populated by human figures with stylized anatomy, grotesque characters, butterflies, symbolic elements, and astonishing metamorphoses. The extraordinary chromatic richness, the delicate work of the woodcut matrices, and the combination of blues, ochers, yellows, and reddish tones confer these prints with an unmistakable artistic personality. The recurrent presence of butterflies, one of the most characteristic elements of this series, introduces the symbolism of beauty, transformation, and metamorphosis, fundamental concepts in Dalí’s surrealist language. The illustrations were conceived specifically to accompany the French edition of the novel, translated by Michel Déon and published in 1959 by Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, and Nouveau Cercle Parisien du Livre, Paris. The work was produced using the traditional color woodcut technique, employing wooden blocks prepared by the Bracons-Duplessis specialized workshops, which transferred to paper the extraordinary visual richness of the compositions created by Dalí. The original edition, limited to 260 numbered copies, constitutes a distinguished achievement in European mid-20th-century artistic bibliophilia. The prints are fully documented in the principal catalogues raisonnés of Salvador Dalí, with specific references in the publications of Michler & Löpsinger and Albert Field, as well as in major international auction houses. The plates feature generous margins and the characteristic allure of original prints on handmade paper. A remarkable collection of original Dalí woodcuts, of extraordinary interest to collectors of Surrealism, 20th-century graphic works, illustrated Spanish literature, and major bibliophilic editions. Provenance: collection linked to Enrique Sabater

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