In preparing the Catalogue raisonné of Graphic Works by Salvador Dalí, the unique nature of the artist’s graphic work has been taken into account throughout, and its particularities are accordingly reflected in the structure and presentation of this catalogue. The editorial approach is based on the two existing catalogues raisonnés of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí: the Catalogue raisonné of Paintings by Salvador Dalí and the Catalogue raisonné of Sculpture and Three-Dimensional Works by Salvador Dalí.
Like these earlier catalogues, the publication of this catalogue raisonné in digital format allows for the ongoing expansion and revision of its contents. The team remains dedicated both to preparing the subsequent sections and to expanding the information presented in the sections already published.
The process of creating a publication of this nature comprises several phases, which are described below to afford a fuller understanding of the procedures involved.
- DEFINITION OF CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION
In the first instance, it was essential to establish criteria for identifying and classifying Salvador Dalí’s graphic work, based on detailed comprehensive study of its defining characteristics. This made it possible to establish a system that clearly distinguishes between an original work, a multiple, and a reproduction.
The definition of these identification and classification criteria derives, firstly, from the study of the artist’s graphic work exhibited at the Dalí Theatre-Museum and in the holdings of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí. This study was carried out by the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona in collaboration with the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí between 2002 and 2016. Secondly, the definition of these criteria is based on evaluation of all the documentation of the artist’s works and the bibliography, and from the analysis of other works that have been incorporated as a result of a policy of print acquisition. Several items from international cultural institutions have also been taken into account.
All of this has served as the basis for defining and establishing the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí’s Artistic Criteria for Graphic Works, an essential document for the classification and dissemination of the artist’s graphic work.
- CONTENT
The catalogue raisonné is unique in including all the graphic works that can be identified as original works by Salvador Dalí. The identification of an original work has been determined in accordance with The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí’s Artistic Criteria for Graphic Works.
The first section of the catalogue, covering the artist’s graphic work up to 1940, consists primarily of works from the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí collection, together with a smaller umber of works from the collections of various institutions, museums, and private collections worldwide.
In order to facilitate the understanding of the technical information relative to the works studied, this catalogue raisonné contains a Glossary. - STRUCTURE
The publication of the Catalogue raisonné of Salvador Dalí’s Graphic Works is structured in consecutive chronological sections detailing the results of the study of the artist’s graphic work, as outlined in the Chronological Overview. - IDENTIFICATION OF WORKS
As noted above, the first section covers the artist’s graphic work up to 1940. It includes all the works known and documented in existing catalogues raisonnés, in the bibliography, and in various other sources, together with the works from the artist’s bequest in the collection of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí. - DOCUMENTATION
The exhaustive research and documentation carried out by the team responsible for this catalogue raisonné has centred on works in the collection of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, in collaboration with the Centre for Dalinian Studies, and to a lesser extent with other, external archives.
For the works from these external sources, the work has benefitted from the details provided by the owners of the works, with additional information compiled from various documentary sources, especially manuscripts, contracts, correspondence, photographs, publications, exhibition catalogues, ephemeral documents, and so on.
Further valuable supplementary documentation has been provided by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Museu Abelló in Mollet del Vallès, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. - CONTACT WITH OWNERS
Once all the works that initially met the requirements for inclusion in this catalogue raisonné had been selected and documented, the owners of these works were contacted to request further information. A special form was created for this purpose, with the different sections required to elicit the information necessary for the works to be included in the catalogue raisonné.
In those cases where we have not received a response to this request for information, the proposed inclusion of the work has been held in reserve, and it does not appear in the Catalogue raisonné of Salvador Dalí’s Graphic Works.
- ATTRIBUTION OF THE WORK
Every one of the works included in the catalogue raisonné meets the necessary requirements for it to be attributed to Dalí, as indicated in previous sections.
The omission of a work from inclusion in this catalogue raisonné may be due to various reasons. Regarding attribution, the information essential to establishing an item’s authorship and originality may not be available or may not meet the requisite guarantees for it to be considered an original work by Dalí. These items become part of a study collection, a necessary preliminary to definitively establishing their authorship.