SALVADOR DALI Figueras, Gerona (1904) / (1990)"Etude pour

Watercolour, graphite and blue ballpoint pen on blue paper. Signed and dated at the centre left "GALADALI" and also "Salvador Dali de Figueras" Inscribed "Castillo de Pubol, de Gala, con Sardanas 1972" Certificate from Nicolas R. Descharnes issued in 2023, no. d7516, included. A certificate from the Fundacion Gala-Dali, Figueres, C1784-2025, is also included. The present study is closely related to the "Equestrian Portrait of Carmen Martinez-Bordiu", made by Salvador Dali in 1972 and recorded in the catalogue raisonne of the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali under number P 868. Commissioned by Alfonso de Borbon y Dampierre for his wife, the final portrait takes up the tradition of the great Spanish equestrian portrait, which Dali interprets through his own pictorial language. In contrast to the solemn and finished character of the canvas, this drawing allows a more direct approach to the process of elaboration of the composition and to some of the solutions that preceded the final work. The story of the portrait continued until 29 May 1973, when Dali again intervened on the work during the lecture "Velazquez y yo", held at the Museo del Prado, in the presence of Carmen Martinez-Bordiu. The present study therefore provides valuable testimony to the creative process of one of the most singular portraits made by Dali at the beginning of the 1970s. Measurements: 43.8 x 31, 9 cm