Genius even in precious things: jewelry by Salvador Dali

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí y Doménech, Marquis de Pubol, better known as Salvador Dalí, is not just a genius Catalan artist that the whole world knew. The genius of this man was manifested in many other fields. He was a sculptor, made movies, and even managed to write. But almost no one mentions his passion for jewelry. And in vain, because he coped with it more than brilliantly.

Based on Dali's sketches, the American company "Alemany & Ertman" created 39 unique works of jewelry art. However, this does not mean that the Catalan simply gave away his sketches, he followed every step of the production of the entire collection.

Salvador Dali's jewelry was full of extravagance and originality, which can rarely be found among contemporaries. They were made of luxurious precious stones brought from the Congo - emeralds, sapphires, lapis lazuli, malachite. The artist independently selected not only materials for his creations, but also their color and shape, investing in each symbolic meaning.

It is believed that 37 pieces of jewelry were created during Dalí's lifetime and two more were created after the artist's death. In total, there are 39 jewelry works from sketches by Salvador Dali in the world.

The future life of this collection is also unpredictable. The first 22 pieces were purchased by the American millionaire Cummins Catherwood, and in 1958, the Owen Cheesham Foundation became the owner of the collection, which also bought all subsequent Dali jewelry. Starting in 1981, the surreal jewelry passed into the hands of a Saudi multimillionaire, who then sold the collection in parts to three legal entities from Japan. By the way, one of these buyers later became the initiator of the return of jewelry masterpieces to their homeland in Spain.

In 1999, "Gala - Salvador Dali" bought the precious collection for 5.5 million euros. And these 39 ornaments were reunited again. Today they are stored in the theater-museum in Figueres, in the tower of Galatia, where a permanent exhibition hall has been created for them.

Salvador Dali's jewelry collection can hardly be called jewelry in the literal sense of the word. These are not earrings, brooches or necklaces, they have turned into hearts, lips, eyes, flowers, animals and anthropomorphic forms, religious and mythological symbols.

You can find his favorite images - "Space Elephant" (1961), sensual "Ruby Lips" (1949), "Living Flower", "Eye of Time" with a teardrop, "Royal Heart", etc. Some of Dalí's works have mechanisms and can move. For example, "Living Flower" has hand petals open and close, "Ruby Heart" beats, and "Angel" flaps its wings.

Source: thedaliuniverse.com