Celebrated collection of Salvador Dali artworks offered by GWS Auctions July 29

 

McMINNVILLE, Ore. – One of the most anticipated and important art and jewelry auctions of the season will take place on July 29 at the Lawrence Art Gallery. Auctioneer Brigitte Kruse of GWS Auctions will conduct two auction sessions: fine jewelry starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time and fine arts – featuring original works by Salvador Dali – at 3 p.m. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

The morning auction offers important investment quality jewelry, limited production designer pieces, and large and rare GIA diamonds.
The afternoon fine arts auction featuring 16 rare 20th-century works – some never before available – will include paintings and rare tapestries by Salvador Dali as well as notable works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. Many of the pieces come from the prestigious collection of Pierre Argillet, Dali’s longtime friend and confidante, and from the collection of the Royal Medici family of Italy.

 

 

This is the first time the prestigious Pierre Argillet Collection, which includes works by Surrealist, Dada and Futurists artists, has been offered at auction. It is one of the most authenticated collections of Dali’s work created throughout his career and demonstrates high standards of quality. The works have appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious museums. The collection’s permanent homes are at the Museum of Surrealism in Melun, France and the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain. The collection is also housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

 

 

 

In 2016, Pierre Argillet’s daughter, Madame Argillet, explained the origins of her collection: “My father began as a journalist with a true passion for Surrealism. His relationship with Dali was as sincere as it was passionate. They had together long discussions on the art in process and on literary topics that Dali would then illustrate. Dali was a man who saw the world as one in which everything was linked. That view of the world is evident in each and every piece of his art. For him it was never a progression of the idea that all things have a shared link … it was the common denominator.”

 

 

Pierre Argillet (1910-2001) was Salvador Dali’s publisher and longtime collaborator. Their friendship spanned five decades and produced what many art historians have termed “the finest bodies of the master’s art.” Christine Argillet became president and curator of the Museum of Surrealism after her father’s death in 2001. Currently she presents “Dali: The Argillet Collection; the Dada and Surrealist Publications of Pierre Argillet” at museums and galleries worldwide. Since 2010, the collection has been shown in over 30 major exhibition presentations, including Washington D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans and Dallas.

 

 

“These museum-quality presentations of “Dali: The Argillet Collection” are a tribute to the work of my father, Pierre Argillet, as an extraordinary publisher of the Dada and Surrealist group,” said Christine Argillet. “This 2016 collection reflects a constant endeavor, a very personal archive of not only Dali’s finest etchings and tapestries, but an intimate glimpse into my family’s personal and cherished photos, films, anecdotes and memories of life with Dali and Gala.”

In advance of the auction there will be a three-day public art exhibit of these extraordinary works July 26-28.