Menu of the banquet of the Society of the Philosophical Roman
Menu of the banquet of the Society of the Philosophical Roman
Menu of the banquet of the Society of the Philosophical Roman

Description

Número de catàleg raonat OG:
OG 016
Propietari:
Estat Espanyol
Ens dipositari:
Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí
Fons:
Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres

This print illustrates a commemorative booklet printed in honour of ‘Citizen Sade’ (the Marquis de Sade), produced for a dinner held on 2 December 1933, the 119th anniversary of de Sade’s death. Dalí dedicated the preliminary drawing, in India ink and pencil, to Gala with the inscription ‘Dessein [sic] especialement fait pour Gala Salvador Dalí 1932’ (drawing made especially for Gala). This drawing served as the basis for the commission. Several etching proofs document the printmaking process, showing how the plate was finally cut to faithfully recreate the original drawing and reproduced in rotogravure with etching overprints, adapting to the format of the pamphlet. The considerable interest that Dalí’s illustration aroused among the members of the Société du Roman Philosophique is revealed in a letter to the artist from the writer and publisher Maurice Heine, dated 31 October 1933, in which he communicated the general interest in learning about his work and satisfying the curiosity of his colleagues. (1) The date of the illustration coincides with the period in which Heine devoted himself to studying, editing and publishing the work of the Marquis de Sade. Between 1931 and 1935, he transcribed the microscopic handwriting of the manuscript of Les 120 Journées de Sodome, written on a twelve-metre scroll during de Sade’s imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris in 1785. The commemorative booklet was addressed to the ‘active Citizens’ of the Société du Roman Philosophique association and extolled the republicanism of de Sade, who had been appointed secretary of the Piques in 1792, at the height of the French Revolution. Sade died on 12 Frimaire an XXIII, as 2 December 1814 was dated in the Republican calendar in use at that time. (2) __________ (1) ID39174, CED, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí. (2) The French Republican calendar associated the days of the year with plants, animals, minerals or tools, and 12 Frimaire corresponds to the horseradish, Armoracia rusticana.

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  1. Original prints (1)
  2. Associated graphic elements (8)