We present the project of the exposition of the works of the legendary representative of St. Petersburg neo-academism Bella Matveeva called "Wave Genetics", prepared by our gallery for the international contemporary art fair COSMOSCOW 2022.
Porcelain
A rare series of 6 plates in Limoges porcelain is the result of team effort by
Salvador Dali, Pierre Argillet and Andre Raynaud.
In 1934, Salvador Dalí met Pierre Argillet, renowned photographer, publisher
and enthusiastic champion of Dali’s works. The collaboration that developed
between these two men would ultimately last for more than fifty years. Argillet
commissioned Dalí to create 190 copper etchings whose themes were drawn
from classic and avant-garde literature and which were then used by Pierre
Argillet as illustrations to the books published by him, among them Faust by
Goethe, The Divine Comedy by Dante, Don Quixot by Cervantes, poems by
Ronsard and Apollinaire, Venus in Furs by Sacher-Masoch, La Tauromache
Surrealiste, La Mythologie.
In 1970, after Pierre Argillet founded the Gallerie Furstenberg, he decided to
transfer some of the Dali etching images on porcelain plates. He selected 4
illustration to Faust (Faust, The Horse of Destiny, Golden Calf, Sabbath) and
2 illustrations to Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs (Woman with a Whip and
Secret Ceremony). Apart from this series there is a separate plate with the
Faust subject – Gretchen.
In 1974 Andre Renaud, the then owner of Renaud-Limoges and one of the most
famous porcelain makers, was commissioned to realize the project. Founded
in 1849, Renaud-Limoges has been specializing in producing small circulation
porcelain and preserving its time-honoured know-how, bleu de four with gilt
ornaments, in particular. This technique provides for immaculate accuracy in
reproducing the original. The porcelain, manufactured by Renaud-Limoges, is
much demanded by European royalties and owners of ancient castles because
the principal policy the producers of this unique porcelain adhere to is “the
passion to create something very beautiful and which will last for eternity”.
We express our deep gratitude to Mr. Jean Christophe Argillet, heir and son
of the great collector, who shared his Dali porcelain with the Tatiana Nikitina
Art Holding, for the opportunity for Russian connoisseurs of applied art to
be acquainted for the first time with this unique art.
