Over 100 works by Salvador Dali will be on show at Dali: The Pierre Argillet Collection. Argillet was Dali’s friend and publisher, and owns one of the most spectacular collections of Dali’s work. His daughter Christine tells us what it was like growing up with Dali.
What was your impression of Dali?
Dali was a workaholic, very much into his projects with my father. He was always busy with his paintings and talking to all kinds of people—from scientists with whom he spoke about DNA research, bakers with whom he was preparing the longest baguette in the world with, Vogue magazine when they had Dali design their summer issue, fashion designers and models—all these people would mingle together in his hotel in Paris. He loved being in the center of the royal court.
What do you remember of his working style?
Dali would stay in his home in Port Lligat, Spain, working from early morning to late afternoon on his paintings. He tried all kinds of materials—he worked on his copper plates with roulettes, scissors, nails, diamond and ruby stylus; he even asked for my mother’s lipstick to draw with. One day, he had found on the seashore a beautiful dead octopus, which he immersed in acid and imprinted on a copper plate. From this animal imprint, Dali created the Medusa from the Mythology series, which will be on display during this exhibition.
Which are your favorite pieces in the collection and why?
My favorite pieces are those where Dali used unusual tools or broke new ground, like the Hippies series. Dali placed different time periods and places together—you would discover Don Quixote next to a hippie with a guitar, a Buddhist temple and Santiago of Compostela. Dali wanted to put a link in between the various cultures of the world, and the Hippies were a fantastic vector between East and West during the 60’s.
What’s your most vivid memory of Dali?
My father had organized a huge meeting in Paris where Dali was going to etch in public—there were maybe 200 journalists present. When Dali arrived, he had strange, fixed eyes. He went on stage, drew furiously in a whirl and then left abruptly. My father ran after him, but Dali left without saying a word. A few days later, I went to his hotel with my father to bring him the copper plate, and we found out that Dali, following Timothy Leary’s suggestions, had taken LSD for the first time on the day of the public etching. A few days later, he etched the Women in the Waves, which is one of the most striking etchings of the Hippies series.
Dali: The Pierre Argillet Collection is on from Mar 22-Apr 20 at Redsea Gallery. Free.
