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Lot Essay
Paisatge amb telèfons sobre un plat (Landscape with Telephones on a Plate) is one of an important series of paintings involving black telephone receivers suspended over or lying on plates set out in the Ampurdán landscape of Dalí’s native Catalonia, that the artist made in the winter of 1938-1939. Including such works as The Enigma of Hitler (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid) and Beach With Telephone (Tate, London), these predominantly grey and distinctly ominous surreal landscapes originated in a series of troubling dreams Dalí had in the wake of the Munich crisis of September 1938 and the looming prospect of war.
In particular the motif of the telephone in these works is thought to be a direct reference to the frequent telephone conversations British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain reported having with Adolf Hitler over the fate of Czechoslovakia prior to the ill-fated Munich treaty of September 29, 1938. The telephone was, however, for Dalí, already a familiar fetishistic object that, in 1936 for example, he had famously turned into a lobster. An association between the telephone, eating and dried sardines is repeatedly invoked in this series of paintings which repeatedly displays one or more disembodied phones on a plate amidst a sequence of dark and foreboding landscapes.
Paisatge amb telèfons sobre un plat was originally in the legendary collection of the eccentric British poet and Surrealist enthusiast, patron and collector, Edward James. Counting Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Leonora Carrington and more amongst his friends, James was one of the earliest and most important supporters of Surrealism in Britain. One of his most important relationships, however, was with Dalí, whom he first met in 1935. The following year, concerned that the artist was struggling to make a living with his art, James offered Dalí a contract whereby he agreed to purchase the artist’s entire output between 1937 and 1938. More than just a financial supporter, James formed a very close and collaborative friendship with Dalí at this time. By 1939, James had amassed one of the greatest Surrealist collections in the world, which was comprised of over 180 works by Dalí.
In particular the motif of the telephone in these works is thought to be a direct reference to the frequent telephone conversations British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain reported having with Adolf Hitler over the fate of Czechoslovakia prior to the ill-fated Munich treaty of September 29, 1938. The telephone was, however, for Dalí, already a familiar fetishistic object that, in 1936 for example, he had famously turned into a lobster. An association between the telephone, eating and dried sardines is repeatedly invoked in this series of paintings which repeatedly displays one or more disembodied phones on a plate amidst a sequence of dark and foreboding landscapes.
Paisatge amb telèfons sobre un plat was originally in the legendary collection of the eccentric British poet and Surrealist enthusiast, patron and collector, Edward James. Counting Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Leonora Carrington and more amongst his friends, James was one of the earliest and most important supporters of Surrealism in Britain. One of his most important relationships, however, was with Dalí, whom he first met in 1935. The following year, concerned that the artist was struggling to make a living with his art, James offered Dalí a contract whereby he agreed to purchase the artist’s entire output between 1937 and 1938. More than just a financial supporter, James formed a very close and collaborative friendship with Dalí at this time. By 1939, James had amassed one of the greatest Surrealist collections in the world, which was comprised of over 180 works by Dalí.