Salvador DALÍ (1904–1989), Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Cnidus (L'Aphrodite de Cnide de Praxitèle), 1988

Color lithograph on Arches Velin paper, 98 x 65 cm; mounted in a large gold frame measuring 132 x 97 cm, with a sliper (thin inner frame)
Limited edition, numbered in pencil 243/275;
The work bears an authorized, embossed signature in the paper (blindstamp), guaranteeing its origin from the official print run.
Publisher: Demart Pro Arte, produced at the renowned Atelier Mourlot (1988–1990)
Official print edition – Demart Pro Arte / Atelier Mourlot (ca. 1988–1990)
Demart Pro Arte (Demart NV): This is the official company managing Salvador Dalí’s copyrights and property rights, founded by the artist himself and his close associates in 1985. Print editions and portfolios published under the Demart Pro Arte label were released primarily between 1988 and 1993, immediately before and after the artist’s death (Dalí died in January 1989).
The original drawing on which this lithograph is based was created by Salvador Dalí in 1981.
During this period, Dalí was intensely revisiting classical aesthetic motifs, architecture, and ancient art (hence the reference to Praxiteles). It was then that he designed this gouache-and-oil composition featuring the characteristic pyramid and Aphrodite’s cracked face. ) It was produced as a single-print, authorized edition lithograph (non-catalog / special edition). The composition featuring this motif was created in the 1970s as part of his individual surrealist works (often included in portfolios such as “La Suite Surréaliste” or published under the official title “The Discovery of Illusion” / “The Discovery of Illusion”).
An exceptionally striking, harmonious surrealist composition by Salvador Dalí, in which the artist pays homage to one of the most important masterpieces of ancient sculpture—the Aphrodite of Cnidus by Praxiteles.
Dalí transformed the classical head of the goddess into a monumental, cracked form embedded within a geometric structure converging into infinity. The work is enriched with motifs iconic to the Catalan master’s imagination: slender cypress trees, a mysterious shadow-casting sphere, levitating elements, and the landscape of Portlligat.