AN EVENING OF DALÍ

PRESENTED BY FRANK HUNTER

January 13, 2024

5:30 p.m.

View Dalí’s Divine Comedy prints in the Dan Sekellick Visual Arts Gallery.

6:30 p.m.

Hear from Frank Hunter—Dalí expert, archivist and print authenticator. Learn about authentication, Dalí behind the scenes, and the many connections between Dante and Dalí.

7:15 p.m.

Enjoy a Spanish-themed dinner from Tighe’s Bistro Americain, wine donated by Joseph Carr, dessert and coffee.

This print exhibition will feature a selection of Dalí illustrations inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The illustrations were commissioned as watercolors in 1950 by the Italian government to celebrate the upcoming 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth. Captured by Dante’s vision, Dalí spent two years creating over 100 watercolors evoking the protosurrealistic imagery of the Comedy.

When the paintings were sent to Rome for exhibition in 1954, political controversy ensued. The government was forced to return the works, allowing Dalí to keep his earnings.

Five years passed. In 1959, French publisher Joseph Foret approached Dalí with the idea of reproducing the watercolors as block prints.

From 1959 to 1963, Foret’s production team of experienced artisans worked to recreate the illustrations in print form. About 3,500 separate printing blocks were meticulously engraved, each one conveying a different color or line element.

The result was a masterful replication of Dalí’s paintings as prints—so authentically rendered that they are often mistaken for the original watercolors.

Dante’s Inferno is lighted by the sun and honey of the Mediterranean. That is why the terrors of my illustrations are analytical and super gelatinous with their coefficient of angelical viscosity.

The digestive hyperesthesia of two beings devouring each other for the first time can be observed in the full light of day, frenetic with mystical and ammoniacal joy.

SALVADOR DALÍ

Read more about this event in the Times Union.

Frank Hunter is the director of the Salvador Dalí Archives. He was introduced to Dalí in 1968 by Albert Field, founder of the Archives and world-renowned expert on Dalí’s life and oeuvre. In 1974, Mr. Hunter commissioned the artist to create a limited-edition etching of a Dante sonnet: “To Ev’ry Captive Soul...”

For decades, Mr. Hunter mentored under Albert Field’s tutelage, witnessing Dalí create and sign hundreds of prints and dedications. He assisted with the making of The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí, published in 1996. Today, Mr. Hunter is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Dalí, especially his graphic works. His authentication expertise is sought after by collectors, galleries, auction houses and law enforcement.