The largest painting that Spanish artist Salvador Dalí ever produced will go under the hammer in Paris at Bonhams later this month. Measuring 65 by 98 feet, Bacchanale (1939) is a monumental oil and pigment on canvas stage set that Dalí produced for the eponymous ballet at the New York Opera House. It will be included in the auction house’s Surrealism sale on March 26th and is estimated to fetch between €200,000 and €300,000 ($232,750–$349,120).
Thirteen panels comprise the work, including one large backdrop and four sets of staggered canvases that frame it. The central panel depicts the Mount of Venus, which is overlaid with an oversized swan with its wings outstretched, a symbol of sin and desire. The accompanying side panels are covered with recurring motifs in Dalí’s work, including small skulls, skeletal limbs, and empty eyes. The work was originally mounted on a wooden frame that has since been lost.
The ballet, which premiered in New York on November 9th, 1939, was Dalí’s first “paranoid-critical ballet,” as he called it, meaning an all-encompassing work of art. In addition to conceiving and producing the set design, the artist also wrote the libretto, designed the costumes, and crafted the overall vision. His collaborators included Léonide Massine, director of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, who was responsible for the choreography, and Coco Chanel, who designed part of the costumes and accessories. Bacchanale was shown for the first time at the Salón de Arte Moderno in Madrid in 2023, before serving as the backdrop for ten performances curated by Jaime Vallaure and Tania Arias at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 2024. Last year, it was on display at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.
“For the fourth-year running, Bonhams celebrates the enthralling world of Surrealism with a dedicated spring auction in Paris,” said Emilie Millon, the head of Bonhams’ Impressionist & Modern Art department in Paris, in a press statement. “The sale will feature works by many of the most innovative and leading figures of Surrealism, from Francis Picabia to Man Ray, showcasing the movement’s impact and legacy. We are happy to offer at auction Bacchanale, a stage set, but above all it is the largest painting created by Salvador Dalí for the New York Opera House, a priceless fantasy that can become a reality for any collector.”
Also included in the Surrealism sale are paintings and works on paper by Leonor Fini, Man Ray, Francis Picabia, André Masson, and Valentine Hugo, among others.
