Salvador Dalí – Dante Alighieri, La Divine Comédie – Purgatorio (Cantos I–XXXIII)
Paris: Joseph Foret / Les Heures Claires, 1960
Deluxe bibliophile issue on Japon nacré paper – one of only 21 copies reserved by Joseph Foret
Format: 4 large in-folio portfolio boxes (approx. 43 × 35.5 cm)
A complete set of 12 has recently been sold on Sotheby's for 140.000€
This monumental illustrated edition of Divina Commedia originated when Salvador Dalí was commissioned by the Italian government to create a complete cycle of illustrations for the poem. Dalí produced 100 original watercolours, one for each canto of Dante’s masterpiece. After political controversy in Italy, the state project was cancelled, but Dalí retained the illustrations.
The project was later revived in Paris with the bibliophile publisher Joseph Foret, before being technically realized by the publishing house Les Heures Claires, which undertook the extremely complex process of translating Dalí’s watercolours into colour wood engravings printed from numerous carved blocks. The resulting publication is widely considered one of the most ambitious illustrated book projects of the 20th century.
Deluxe Foret Issue
The present example belongs to the rare Foret deluxe issue, comprising:
21 exceptional copies printed on Japon nacré paper
Presented in luxurious satin-covered portfolio boxes
Distinct from the regular edition of 4765 copies printed on vélin de Rives
The Foret copies represent the most prestigious bibliophile state of Dalí’s Divine Comedy.
Contents of the Present Set (Purgatorio Section)
This set contains the complete Purgatorio section (Cantos I–XXXIII), illustrated with 33 colour engravings after Dalí, each corresponding to one canto.
The contents are as follows:
Text Volumes
Two illustrated text volumes containing the complete text of Purgatorio
Accompanied by the 33 colour engravings by Salvador Dalí
Suite Volumes
Two portfolio volumes containing additional impressions of the illustrations
These include:
• A suite printed on silk showing the engraved line impressions
• A colour suite of the illustrations printed on Japon nacré paper
• Colour decomposition proofs for the illustrations of Canto XII and Canto XX, printed on Rives BFK paper, revealing the stages of colour construction used in the engraving process
Special Deluxe Impressions Preserved behind a thick rhodoid protective sheet:
• Two large impressions printed on silk, corresponding to
– Canto II
– Canto XXXIII
These are special deluxe impressions distinct from the standard suites.
Presentation
All elements are housed in four original satin-covered portfolio boxes, characteristic of the Foret deluxe issue.
Catalogue Reference
Michler & Löpsinger – Salvador Dalí: Catalogue Raisonné of Prints
Volume II
Entries 1039–1138
Provenance
Collection of Count de Kerchove de Denterghem, dispersed after his death.
Summary
The present example represents the complete Purgatorio section from the rare Foret deluxe edition on Japon nacré paper, comprising:
4 large portfolio boxes
2 illustrated text volumes
2 suite portfolios
33 Dalí colour engravings
A silk suite of engraved lines
A colour suite on Japon nacré paper
Colour decomposition proofs (Cantos XII & XX)
Two large silk impressions (Cantos II & XXXIII)
This rare bibliophile set preserves the richness of Dalí’s surrealist interpretation of Dante in one of the most technically sophisticated illustrated editions of the 20th century.
