Butterfly Ballet
Artist
Salvador Dalí
(Spanish, 1904-1989)
Date1956
MediumBallet maquettes in watercolor and printed collage
Dimensions10 3/4 × 24 in. (27.3 × 61 cm)
Overall, Frame: 20 1/4 × 33 1/2 in. (51.4 × 85.1 cm)
ClassificationsModern art
Credit LineAnonymous gift
Object number2015.34
DescriptionThis work on paper is a watercolor and collage maquette of ballet costume designs signed by Salvador Dalì in 1956. Dalì may have prepared this for a ballet created by Maurice Sandoz with whom he frequently collaborated. Cutouts of printed butterfly forms are applied to two painted figures. A third figure with a shell design costume stands on the center right. A fourth seated figure on the right side of the sheet appears to observe the other three standing figures. Backstamps and labels on the cardboard backing indicate that the work was once owned by the Hammer Galleries and was exhibited at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery.
