784 - SALVADOR DALÍ (1904–1989)

SALVADOR DALÍ (1904–1989) Autograph letter signed ‘Salvador Dalí’ and a letter dictated to his wife Gala, with autograph additions, illustrated with original drawings. [Del Monte, California, circa 1941–1942]. Addressed to Léonide MASSINE. 9 pages on 8 quarto leaves (6 measuring 27.9 × 21.4 cm and 2 measuring 26.6 × 18.3 cm), on Hotel Del Monte, Del Monte, California, headed stationery (adhesive tape mark on the verso of one leaf). An exceptional group of illustrated letters concerning a ballet project with the choreographer Léonide Massine, incorporating approximately fifteen original drawings and sketches by Salvador Dalí. Following his collaboration with the choreographer Léonide MASSINE on Bacchanale in 1939 (music by Wagner) and Labyrinth in 1941 (music by Schubert), both staged at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Salvador Dalí conceived a new ballet project, initially entitled Sacrifice, then El Sueño de Felipe II, inspired by the celebrated painting by El Greco, and subsequently Mysteria. The project was never realised. On one page, prominently bearing a large signature in Indian ink, ‘Salvador Dalí’, the artist has drawn a large group composition in Indian ink, entirely heightened with watercolour, depicting twelve female dancers. The drawing is accompanied by autograph annotations: ‘3 sur une marche’, ‘3 debu’, ‘3 a jenoux’, ‘3 assisses’ [three on a step, three standing, three kneeling, three seated]. To one side appears a female dancer depicted as a flower-woman, with flowers adorning her head and a bouquet in each hand. Another drawing in Indian ink shows the detailed arrangement of the headdress. At the bottom of the page, a further composition in ink, heightened with touches of watercolour, depicts the dancers in motion, accompanied by Dalí's autograph commentary: ‘minuet avec chaque fille efectuant des gestes indibiduels l’une dramatique, l’autre douce, autre languisante, autre raidi par la catalepsie – ce minuet ocupant toute l’espace de la scene’ [A minuet in which each girl performs individual gestures: one dramatic, another gentle, another languishing, another stiffened by catalepsy — this minuet occupying the entire stage.] At the top of the page, Gala has written: ‘Cher Massine, Voici les idées coreographiques pour le ballet, j’espère que vous pouvez lire facilement son écriture, car les dessin memes expliquent déjà bien son idée votre Gala Dalí’ [Dear Massine, Here are the choreographic ideas for the ballet. I hope you can easily read his handwriting, as the drawings themselves already explain his idea quite well. Yours, Gala Dalí.] A second leaf contains an autograph letter signed by Dalí, written in pencil (2 pages), with two large signatures in Indian ink, ‘Salvador Dalí’ and ‘Salvador’. In four numbered points, Dalí explains the sequence of ‘la dance des geunes filles’ [the dance of the young girls], illustrated with six small pencil sketches and a framed note ‘pour l’ignocent’ [for the Innocent], from which Massine could ‘faire une creation sensatielle’ [create something sensational]. A further letter, dictated to Gala, extends over six numbered leaves and is entitled ‘Correographie pour le ballet Mysteria dance de l’Innocent’ [Choreography for the ballet Mysteria: Dance of the Innocent]. In this letter, Dalí announces that he has completed the final curtain, which is to appear at the last moment of the ‘apothéose celeste’ [celestial apotheosis], immediately after the miracle, bringing the performance to a close. He writes: ‘fini le rideau final qui doit apparaitre au dernier moment de l’“apothéose celeste”, juste après le miracle et apres quoi le spectacle se termine. Le rideau est de beaucoup le plus beau et paralysant de ce que j’ai fait jusqu’aujourd’hui : c’est dans l’esprit et la categorie de la transfiguration de Rafaël !’ [...finished the final curtain, which must appear at the last moment of the ‘celestial apotheosis’, immediately after the miracle, after which the performance ends. The curtain is by far the most beautiful and overwhelming thing I have created to date: it is in the spirit and category of Raphael's Transfiguration!] Dalí then describes, in seven numbered sections, ‘la dance de l’innocent et sa femme’ [the dance of the Innocent and his wife], illustrating the sequence with four drawings in Indian ink accompanied by autograph annotations. In the first section, he depicts the Innocent dancing upon a ‘tarine en bois (estrade)’ [wooden platform]. In the second section, Gala describes the arrival of the Innocent's wife: ‘Sa femme arrive portant comme une chose precieuse le grand parapluie fermé, lequel il ouvre et plante dans un trou pratiqué au milieu de la tarime de bois (estrade). Aussitôt l’Innocent, coëncidant avec la musique lente et reticente, commence avec grande précautions et mystères à