Dalí Illustrates Dante’s “Divine Comedy”

Organized by the Las Cruces Museum of Art in New Mexico, this exhibition included all 100 prints from Salvador Dalí’s “Divine Comedy” Suite and was part of a 10-city national tour developed and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services. In 1957, the Italian government commissioned Salvador Dalí to illustrate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy.” Dalí’s 100 watercolors were to be reproduced as wood engravings and released as a limited-edition print suite in honor of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth. When the project was announced to the public, Italians were outraged that a Spaniard had been chosen for it and the commission was rescinded. Dalí, confident that a publisher could be found, continued to work. In order to translate Dalí’s watercolors into printed plates, two artists hand-carved 3,500 blocks, a process that lasted five years. French publishers Éditions les Heures Claires and Éditions Joseph Horet jointly produced the “Divine Comedy” Print Suite in 1964. Dalí considered this project one of the most important of his career.

Lynn Boland, Pierre Daura Curator of European Art (in-house)