Dali versus Picasso is the work that has been on show for a month at the Naves del Español in Madrid's Matadero, showing the intense dialogue between the two geniuses on the subject of surrealism.
From Paris, hundreds of kilometres away from the Civil War in Spain, Dali versus Picasso deals with the discussion, on the eve of the International Exhibition in Paris, between the two geniuses about two of their most emblematic works: Premonition of the Civil War, by Salvador Dalí, and Guernica, by Pablo Picasso.
Despite the supposed rivalry between the two artists, which is reflected in quotes from them, such as the one by Dalí, "There are only two bad things that can happen to you in life, to be Pablo Picasso or not to be Salvador Dalí", the play's author, Fernando Arrabal,Picasso and Dalí were gentlemen of science, of painting, and this rivalry that we had believed, we see that it does not exist thanks to the director of the play and the actors, they are soldiers of the same school who are in exile".
In addition to telling you about the play, which many of you have probably already seen, we would like to tell you about two works by Dalí and Picasso, which have long been part of the Foundation Vivanco's collection . La bouteille de vin, by Pablo Picasso, on display at the Museum Vivanco of Wine Culture, and the beautiful lithograph by Salvador Dalí, entitled The Last Supper, which last year was on display at the exhibition Spirit of wine. Wine as a religious valuewhich the Foundation Vivanco held at the Infanta Elena Museum of Contemporary Art in Tomelloso.
La bouteille de vin, by Pablo Picasso, is a pochoir engraving measuring 48 x 57 cm, dating from around 1922. Since 2004, this work has been on display in the Art room of the Museum Vivanco de la Culture du Vin. Produced using the "pochoir" technique - an engraving coloured by hand with gouache - it reproduces a cubist still life by the author made at the beginning of the 1920s, featuring a bottle of wine.
During the First World War Picasso concentrated mainly on Cubist still lifes and portraits in a naturalistic style; Cubism, Pointillism, Mannerism and Neoclassicism played a major role in his work from 1917 onwards. After the end of the war, although he continued to work in these disparate styles, he gradually tended towards a neoclassical style.
On the other hand, Salvador Dalí's The Last Supper, which the Foundation Vivanco has shown in various recent exhibitions, is inspired by the work of the same name by Leonardo Da Vinci, but is filtered through the sieve of the Dalinian universe. The original oil painting, painted in 1955, is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Which of Dalí's and Picasso's works do you like best?
