September 7, 2019 - April 13, 2020

by Alba Cappellieri and Livia Tenuta

The exhibition ‘Precious Art: the jewellery sculptures of Salvador Dalí’ presents a selection of works of art that aim to convey the artistic diversity of Salvador Dalí and his passionate attempts to express himself in space, in three dimensions. 

The exhibition is divided into three sections and consists of 18 sculptures produced between 1949 and 1979: the Dalí d’Or, the jewelled sculptures and the silver sculptures. 

 There are 12 works in the Dalí d’Or collection, ten of which displayed at the exhibition, which Dalí produced from pure gold in the late 1960s using his collection of Dalí d’Or coins. The Dalí d’Or-Objets Montés were created to emulate royalty in all its excess and splendour and include magical mirrors, pendants with serpent motifs and emblems in honour of the sun.

 The jewelled sculptures pay tribute to Dalí’s most important iconographic images, like the ballerinas, the angels and the watch. They are made from 18-carat gold and encrusted with precious stones, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Each work of art is mounted on a translucent rock crystal base and signed in gold by Dalí.

 The silver sculptures form part of a limited edition series and include the ‘Profile of Time’, which echoes the famous 1931 painting The Persistence of Memory in which the melted watch appeared for the first time.

Alessandra Possamai