Artist: Salvador Dalí
Title: Lincoln in Dalivision
Year created: 1976
Medium: Original, Unique Remarqued & Embossed Photolith on Arches Paper
Edition: Original Unique Artwork, Limited Edition 176/350 on Arches Paper
Height (inches): 24.375
Width (inches): 17.25
Framed size: 35" x 26"
This piece is framed.
Includes a certificate of authenticity.
Description of piece: This rare, original and unique artwork, Lincoln in Dalivision, by Salvador Dalí is hand-signed, bearing Dalí's iconic signature, prominently, in pencil. Often referred to as a lithograph, it is actually a Photolith, with original etched remarque and embossing. The Photolith was created from Dalí's 1976 painting, ("Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at a distance of 20 meters is transformed into the portrait of Abraham Lincoln"); the etched remarque and embossing make each Lincoln in Dalivision an original Dalí.
Lincoln in Dalivision is essentially a photomosaic, and Dalí's photolith is recognized as one of the finest examples of photomosaic art by a prominent artist. Viewed at close range, the work appears as a portrait of a woman, colored "tiles", a cross-like shape containing imagery and colors, and several thumbnail images. Viewed at a distance, a remarkable optical illusion occurs, and a portrait of Abraham Lincoln is revealed. When published, Lincoln in Dalivision photoliths were accompanied by an optic viewing lens in a special presentation case, which permitted one to see the Lincoln portrait at close range. The original viewing lens and case are included with this work!
With an image size measuring 24.375" in height x 17.25" width, the artwork is boldly signed in the lower right margin, and numbered in the lower left; 176 from a limited edition of 350 pieces created on Arches paper, and published by Levine and Levine. Lincoln in Dalivision comes framed in an elegant and striking vintage custom archival frame, designed to showcase the work. In its golden lacquered wood frame, complemented by a slubbed black linen mat, and accented with a golden wood fillet, the piece also bears a special "Lincoln in Dali Vision" plaque. Framed size is 35" in height x 26" width.
Lincoln in Dalivision is at once one of the most sought-after Dalí works, and considered by experts to be one of the most counterfeited. Expert authentication is required to confirm authenticity of this work and many experts who can typically authenticate various works via pictures and measurements only, require viewing Lincoln in Dalivision in person before they will authenticate the piece.
This artwork is, on the reverse, signed and dated by Albert Field, Dalí expert and author of the authoritative Official Catalog of The Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí, as authentication of the authenticity of the work and Dalí's signature. Referenced in Field's book, Reference: 77-1, page 118, it is designated as "Scarce", and valued at $38,000 in the 2015 edition of The Print Price Guide to the Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí, by Bruce Hochman. The work is accompanied by an additional certificate of authenticity.
Artist bio: Salvador Dalí, born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, (1904-1989) was a prominent artist born in Figueres, Spain, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, sixteen miles from the French border, in Catalonia. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media, and he is best known for his surrealist work, including his most well-known painting, The Persistence of Memory. Highly imaginative, Dalí attributed his "love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes" to an ancestry of descent from the medieval Moors. His individualistic nature and resistance to conformity made waves, including among his colleagues. In 1934, when Dalí was subjected to a "trial", in which he was formally expelled from the Surrealist group, Dalí retorted, "le Surrealisme c'est moi": "I myself am surrealism".