Christ of Gala, 1981

$9,500.00

Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989)

Medium: Diptych (Two colored lithographs on Arches Paper), pencil signature on left, embossed signature on right

Dimensions: Diptych, each measuring 20" x 23.5" (56" x 37" with frame)

Provenance: Private collection, Brentwood CA

"Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it" - Salvador Dali

Stereopsis is the neural mechanism by which the visual system combines the horizontally displaced images from the left and right eye to produce a 3D percept. Dali's interest in perception led him to experiment with stereoscopic vision, creating a series of works as stereo-pairs. Dali achieved three-dimensionality by creating two versions of the same scene (one for each eye of the observer, thus mimicking the horizontal disparity of binocular images in natural vision). For the Christ of Gala, each lithograph was meticulously rendered from slightly different viewing points, equivalent to the differences that would result from viewing the same image with the right vs. the left eye, as if the observer witnessed this scene in real life. Dali's adjustments to position, tone, lighting and symmetry took into account the distance between the viewer and the image.

Crucifixion combines very effectively binocular cues (stereopsis) and monocular cues to depth perception, the latter most powerfully in the form of vanishing points (i.e., the cross appears to recede in the distance, even when we close one eye). When we observe both images side-by-side, with the left eye focused on the left picture, and the right eye on the right picture, our visual system combines both images into a single three-dimensional work.

In the collection of :

the Salvador Dali Museum, St Petersburg FL

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