It is exciting to think that there is still unpublished work by Salvador Dalí that can be visited, contemplated and enjoyed. And that is exactly one of the main attractions of the Salón de Arte Moderno (SAM) in Madrid, which opened its doors to the public this Wednesday, coinciding with the great week of art in the capital.
The Carlos de Antwerp Foundation is hosting two pieces from the private collection of the Barcelona gallery owner, Jorge Alcolea. It is one of the smallest paintings by the painter, along with one of his largest works. The Mauvaise année, from 1937, and the set for the Bacchanale ballet, from 1939. Two pieces that are shown together for the first time to star in an exceptional dialogue that will delight lovers of the great creator.
Jorge Alcolea was nervous these days about the opening of the great exhibition. It is not the first, nor will it be the last, major exhibition that it has organized, but it recognized to La Vanguardia that it is a very special edition due to the presence of these two works that are part of its private collection and in which gallery owners have already shown interest. and collectors from half the world.
In his heart of hearts, the gallery owner’s dream is for the set to end up returning to the stages of the Gran Teatro del Liceo or the Teatro Real to once again host the Bacchanale ballet. Be that as it may, the world of contemporary and modern art is coming together this week in the capital and the SAM, with the appeal of these two Dalís, will be an obligatory point of passage.
Both works were produced at the end of the 1930s and maintain an obvious iconographic link, the female profile with a disturbing and cynical smile that appears in Mauvaise année and that appears repeated on various faces of those set for the stage. Bacchanale was the first paranoid ballet and this is how Dalí himself defined it, who worked hand in hand with the great Cocó Chanel, in charge of the costumes. The work, performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo company, premiered in 1939 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, shortly before the artist moved to the big city with his beloved Gala.
Despite the large dimensions of the Carlos de Amberes Foundation that houses the SAM, the decoration cannot fit in any way when displayed. For this reason, Alcolea has carried the box in which the scenery has been kept since 1939, when it was collected after the performances and will show parts of the set. The space hosts a conceptual exhibition, which is similar to a museum walk, showing the most exceptional details of the work with which the artist wanted to approach the general public.
The setting also has a fascinating history. After the performance of the ballet, it is not known why, the work fell into the hands of one of the dancers who participated in the Bacchanale. When he died, the man donated the setting to the Butler University Foundation in Indianapolis where the piece was stored for years until it was acquired by Alcolea and now exhibited for the first time.
La Mauvaise année is a small 9×14 gouache applied to a postcard containing a black and white reproduction of a detail from the work Les plaisirs illuminés from 1929. It is known that the work belonged to the poet Paul Éluard, who was the husband of Gala, before the woman left with Dalí. She then went through different hands and auctions. In 1978 the piece reappeared in the historic Dada and Surrealism exhibition that opened at the Hayward Gallery in London.
