Morceau de savon présentant des formes automatiques Modern Style trouvé dans un lavabo

Piece of soap presenting Modern Style automatic shapes, found in a washbasin

© Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, VEGAP, Figueres, 2019 Brassaï © Estate Brassaï-RMN-Grand Palais

Cat. no. OE 5

Morceau de savon présentant des formes automatiques Modern Style trouvé dans un lavabo

Piece of soap presenting Modern Style automatic shapes, found in a washbasin

Unique Original Work

Description

Author:
Salvador Dalí i Domènech - Gyula Halász, alias Brassaï
Date:
1932-1933
Technique:
Photograph and found object or object of automatic origin
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
17,5 x 23,5 cm
The dimensions correspond to the original print run of the photograph
Inscriptions:
On the back: Sculptures involontaires / Morceau de savon suscitant des / formes automatiques 'Modern' Style trouvé / dans un lavabo
Location:
Centre Pompidou - Musée national d'art moderne - Centre de création industrielle, Paris

Between 1932-1933, Dalí took on the artistic direction of a series of photographs made with Gyula Halász, alias Brassaï (1899-1984), in which certain objects, probably of automatic origin, acquire a new conceptual and artistic dimension, grounded in the essence of the photographic image. Several of these photographs were published anonymously in 1933 in the magazine Minotaure, under the heading ‘Sculptures involontaires’, each with a descriptive title drawing attention to details of the work. This title almost certainly refers once again to Dalí’s article ‘Concerning the Terrifying and Edible Beauty of Art Nouveau Architecture’, published in the same issue of Minotaure.

Observations

Dalí’s original spelling of the title has been corrected: 'Morceau de savon présentant des formes automatiques Modern'Style trouvé dans un lavabo'.

The dimensions and the inscriptions correspond to the original print run of this photograph, which is conserved at the Centre de création industrielle in Paris.  

Bibliography

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  1. 2. Laura Bartolomé, Clara Silvestre, "La belleza involuntaria de las esculturas Dalí-Brassaï", La Vanguardia, Cultura/s, 02-08/04/2016, Barcelona.

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