"Explosive Madonna" Surreal Lithograph by Salvador Dali

In the surrealist universe of Salvador Dalí, reality and imagination coexist with disconcerting fluidity. Religious symbolism is a special place manipulated by the artist’s genius. This lithograph is probably one of the representations, works, and numerous studies of the series entitled “Madonna de Port Lligat,” where Gala, his wife and muse, poses as a Madonna, numbered 63/450 on the left margin and signed on the right, at the bottom.
Through the Madonna of Port Lligat figure, Dalí offers an atypical vision of the Virgin and Child, integrating deeply traditional and radically innovative elements. The "fleur-de-lys," commonly associated with the immaculate and the sacred, forms the junction between the earth and the divine in this work. The lily symbolizes purity in the Bible, opening its petals toward the sky to receive divine grace. Dalí reuses the floral motif in pencil in the upper right part of the composition, evoking the delicate frontier between the profane and the sacred and associating it with kings' divine right in the 13th century. It was said that the king held his power from God, not the people. In Christianity, the lily symbolizes fertility and purity associated with the Virgin Mary, the Supreme Queen and mother of Jesus Christ. Worn by many saints, it became the symbol of abandonment to God. Adorning themselves with the "fleur-de-lys" as an emblem, the kings of France claimed their submission to divine authority, with God being the only one above the French sovereigns. Representing this flower as barely sketched not only underlines its symbolic importance but also gives the work an unfinished character, encouraging us to look beyond what is openly manifested.
The unusual portrait of the Virgin, fragmented and disjointed but retaining a singular harmony and beauty, sums up Dalí’s approach and creative flashes. The deconstruction of the figure, far from distorting the sacred, crystallizes one of the most intriguing aspects of his art.

Dalí’s representation of motherhood, highlighted by the halo above the child’s head, adds another dimension. Furthermore, the depiction of the Virgin holding her child in one arm while the other has a book, perhaps the Bible, with strings attached to its pages to a puppet-like figure, suggests a commentary on the philosophical and possibly religious control of the human condition. Dalí’s attention to detail and his use of an earthy color palette reinforce the three-dimensionality of the figures, injecting them with a living presence.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654314777622
PERIOD: Late 20th Century
CONDITION: Excellent
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 28.75" Width: 21" Depth: 1.5"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Lithograph
CREATOR: Salvador Dalí­