Salvador Dali's largest work.
Created in 1939, “Bacchanalia” was intended to be more than just a stage design. Dalí called it “a total work of art,” writes ArtMajeur. In addition to the giant pictorial panels, the artist designed the libretto and costumes, turning the production into a visual embodiment of his “paranoid-critical method.” The production premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but its origins lie in Monaco, where the Monte Carlo Ballet Russes under Leonid Myasin worked.
The scale is impressive: 13 panels, the size of which exceeds 20 by 30 meters, create an almost cinematic space. Alexander Shervachidze, a production designer, took part in the work on the scenery. According to historical data, Coco Chanel herself was invited to create the costumes, but due to the outbreak of World War II, the cooperation did not take place.
The musical basis of the performance was the overture to Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser, and on stage the audience saw images characteristic of Dalí – a giant swan, the symbol of Venus and mythological motifs balancing between eroticism and disturbing dreams.
In recent years, Bacchanalia has traveled to international venues, from Madrid to Milan’s Fabbrica del Vapore. Now the rarest ensemble comes to the market from a major private collection. The estimate of 200,000-300,000 euros seems restrained for a work of such historical scale, but is explained by the complexity of storage and display.
The auction will take place in a mansion on Avenue Auch, the Paris headquarters of Bonhams. Given the project’s Monegasque-American history and Dalí’s cult status, experts expect increased interest from museums and major institutions. Paris is preparing for the awakening of the “sleeping giant” of surrealism.
