Reprinted from Blouinartinfo
A selection of works by the celebrated Surrealist artist Salvador Dali from the acclaimed Pierre Argillet Collection will be exhibited at Redsea Gallery in Singapore from September 11 through October 5.
Avid art collector Pierre Argillet and Dali were known to have a long-lasting friendship of over 30 years. Moreover, the duo had a fruitful artistic collaboration, creating nearly 200 etchings, most of which have not been viewed by the public in Southeast Asia.
Redsea will present an inaugural exhibition of these works in Singapore. It will be an extension of the gallery’s previous show launched two years ago, which displayed works from Argillet’s collection. This year, the gallery will showcase a wider range of works in various mediums by the artist who painted dreams and the unconscious, highlighting his “capacity to be creative in so many fields and themes.” The show will bring together etchings and drawings, and more importantly, unseen porcelain pieces and tapestries created collaboratively by the artist and the art collector.
The tapestries and the porcelain plates are the stars of the exhibition as both were designed especially for two museums: Dali’s Teatro-Museo in Spain and Château de Vaux le Pénil in France. The “Argus” tapestry is dubbed as “one of the most extraordinary pieces of the collection” according to a press release, and will make its debut in Singapore.
The limited edition porcelain plates on show were conceived by Dali and Argillet in 1973, and their designs were based on six of the Surrealist’s famous etchings from the late 1960s. A renowned porcelain maker in Limoges named Raynaud was allegedly commissioned to create these designs, resulting in around 2000 limited edition pieces.
The Pierre Argillet Collection has been exhibited at Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam since 1971. Since then, it has toured the world, being showcased in Florida, Germany, France, Spain, Tokyo, Osaka, and various other places. The collection is currently housed at Château de Vaux le Pénil in Melun, France — which was conceived by Argillet as a Surrealism Museum — and at Dali’s Teatro-Museo in Figueres in Spain.
Pierre Argillet is recognized as a passionate art collector from the 20th century, who devotedly collected the art of his time including from movements like Futurism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. Among his many artist acquaintances from that generation, such as Marcel Duchamp and Jean Arp, his friendship with Dali was the only one that lasted, until the artist’s untimely death in 1989.
“Salvador Dali & Pierre Argillet: Thirty Years of Collaboration” will run from September 11 through October 5, 2016 at Redsea Gallery, Singapore.