Naples

Details

Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
Naples
signed and dated 'Dalí 1949' (lower right), inscribed 'NAPELS' [sic] (lower centre)
gouache, watercolour and pencil and India ink on card
23 x 28 ¾ in. (58.5 x 72.4 cm.)
Executed in 1949

Provenance

Mr & Mrs Albert Davis Lasker, New York, by whom commissioned from the artist.
Dr Robert F. Loeb, New York, a gift from the above.
Private collection, United States, by descent from the above; sale, Christie’s, London, 3 December 1996, lot 194.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

J. Gunther, Taken at the Flood: The Story of Albert D. Lasker, London, 1960, p. 261.

Exhibited

Arezzo, Museo Civico d’Arte Moderna Contemporanea, Da Picasso a Botero: Capolavori dell’arte del Novecento, March – June 2004, p. 388 (illustrated p. 91); this exhibition later travelled to Forlì, Palazzo Albertini, June – August 2004.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Annie Wallington

awallington@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2638

Lot Essay

Nicolas and Olivier Descharnes have confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Executed in 1949, Naples is one from a series of four watercolours and gouaches commissioned from the artist by a noted philanthropist and art collector Albert Davis Lasker in 1948. Given by Lasker as a token of gratitude to Dr Robert F. Loeb, an avid admirer of Salvador Dalí’s œuvre, the series depicts various landmark locations in Italy - the country Dr Loeb considered to be his favourite. The present lot portrays the shores of the city of Gulf of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

The hues of blue, purple, yellow and orange with smoke gushing up from the volcano convey an atmosphere of a hot summer’s day. Engulfed by the bay, the crystal-clear waters are disturbed only by a gentle breeze and passing sailing boats. In the foreground, a figure in a bright red hat plays the mandolin and sings, creating a joyous atmosphere. A treasured possession, the present work remained in the collection of Dr Loeb and his descendants for almost fifty years.

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