A work by Salvador Dalí that was believed to be lost or destroyed has turned up in the basement of an American collector. valued between 10 and 20 million dollars (between 9.6 and 19.2 million euros), the ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ It is a kind of wax-based painting that has been exhibited since last Thursday at Harte International Galleries, on the island of Maui, in Hawaii, on the occasion of the 118th anniversary of the painter’s birth. The work represents Jesus Christ crucified and was made by the artist in 1979, a decade before his death.
The painting has been authenticated by Nicolas Descharnes, an expert on Dalí, since his father, Robert Descharnes, was Dalí’s secretary for a long time and until the artist’s death. The discovery has been a complete surprise for the art world, and Harte International Galleries itself has explained that “no one thought that the original work, made in wax, still existed”.
“Given the challenges of preserving the wax, few expected that the original mold would have survived,” notes art magazine ArtNews. When the gallery found out about the existence of the work, it decided to pay an undisclosed sum to buy it and exhibit it in their rooms under the new name of ‘Lost wax’ (lost wax).
Where had the work been until then? For the last 40 years, the real ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ has been kept in the basement of a private collector close to Dalí and has been preserved for the last four decades in the original Plexiglas case that Dalí used to store the work. , according to ABC.
The three-dimensional representation of Dalí’s “most important” religious work
The ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’, or the now ‘Lost wax’, is a three-dimensional representation of one of the most famous paintings by the Spanish artist, a homonymous work that represents Jesus crucified in the central and upper part of the painting, looking down where there is a calm landscape, the bay of Port Lligat. This painting is in Glasgow (Scotland), in the Kelvingrove Museum and is, according to the Hawaii gallery, “the religious work most important ever created by Dalí“.
On the left, the painting ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’. On the right, the homonymous work made of wax.
Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation (Harte International Galleries)
At the moment it is not known if the work will go to auction or will be sold privately, and the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundationwhich is responsible for protecting the legacy of the Catalan artisthas not yet ruled on the finding. While waiting for the definitive confirmation of the work, the ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ will continue to be exhibited in Hawaii.
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