DALÍ’S TWELVE APOSTLES, WITH 12 SPLENDID ELEPHANT FOLIO COLOR LITHOGRAPHS, EACH SIGNED BY DALÍ—ONE OF ONLY 350 ON ARCHES PAPER

[DALI, Salvador]. [The Twelve Apostles; also issued as Knights of the Round Table]. [Paris: Simon Waintraub, Peter Moore, Airane Lancel, Jacques Carpentier, 1977]. Elephant folio (images measure 18-1/8 by 19-3/8 inches, including border; paper measures 18-7/8 by 25-1/2 inches), 12 lithographs on paper watermarked Arches France, loose as issued. Housed in custom cloth portfolio.

First edition of this collection of 12 full-color folio lithographs after original gouaches by Dalí, each print number 327 of only 350 numbered copies on Arches paper (from a total edition of 430), each boldly signed in pencil by Dalí.

Field makes a convincing argument that the 12 vibrant lithographs illustrate the 12 Apostles—although, curiously, this series of prints was also issued under the title Knights of the Round Table. As the prints were issued without a title page, accompanying text, or captions, "identification has been made by examination of the images for symbols associated with each of them… The image of a woman's face with 12 tiny figures in her hair cannot be that of an apostle. It has been called 'The Watcher' and may represent what Dalí called 'the piercing gaze of Gala.' The man carrying a cross with a Roman soldier in the background does not seem to be an apostle, and the halo suggests it is Jesus himself" (Field). As a "pioneer of European Surrealism and for more than half a century one of the best-known and most bitterly contested figures in the international art world, Dalí will have a permanent place in the history of art… It was Dalí, with his meticulous and persuasive visions of a world turned inside out, who brought home to the public at large the full potential of Surrealism… It can also be argued that at his best Dalí wrote out a declaration of independence for the human imagination in a way that is still valid" (New York Times). Each print watermarked "Arches France." Field, 180-81. Michler & Löpsinger, Dalí, Catalogue Raisonné of Prints II: Lithographs and Wood Engravings 1504-15.

Fine condition. A splendid collection of signed original Dalí lithographs.