Salvador Dali and his 'Immortals of Art'

“Immortals of Art” Series, produced 1968

Printed by the Collector’s Guild in New York City

The ‘Immortals of Art’ are a series of etchings produced by Dali in 1968. An etching is typically created when a metal plate is drawn upon and then treated (usually with acid) so that incised lines become pronounced. Ink is then applied and the plate is pressed with immense pressure against paper to produce an image.  Albert Field states in “The Official Catalogue of Graphic Works of Salvador Dali” that this series consisted of 15 etchings: ‘Pegasus’, ‘Narcissis’, ‘Telephone Mou’, ‘Rhinocerus’, ‘Mantre Molle’, ‘Elephant’, ‘Mercure’,‘Leonardo da Vinci’, ‘Michelange’, ‘Picasso’, ‘Chagall’, ‘Rembrandt van Rjin’, Van Gogh’, ‘Toulouse-Lautrec’ and ‘Autoportrait’. This run of etchings was published by the Collector’s Guild in New York City. They originally put out an edition of 150 of numbered and hand signed etchings before having Dali add his name, “pour G.C” (or for Collectors Guild) and 1968 to the plate for printing. Dali was doing this backwards and hastily hence why in many of the images his signature and these details are difficult to read.

We are lucky enough to have four pieces from this series - "Rembrandt van Rjin", "Van Gogh", "Leonardo da Vinci" and "Toulouse-Lautrec". Each pieces comes with a gallery certificate of authenticity. These are great examples of Dali that capture not only Dali but his views of other great masters. While these were produced in quantity in 1968 very few complete sets still exist and the pieces are rare to come to the open market. It is also worth noting that these are etchings from 1968 not printed reproductions. And as with all works from the great masters they are only increasing in rarity!