Private Collection, Switzerland (sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 10, 1995, lot 411B)
Private Collection, New York (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1998, lot 376)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Salvador Dalí always enjoyed his reputation as a living contradiction.  A radical innovator who broke new ground in the development of twentieth-century art, he loved and diligently studied the Old Masters.  A colleague of the mostly Marxist Surrealists, he lived comfortably in Franco’s Spain꧋.  As he himself observed, “every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure: that of being Salvador Dalí.”

🍷Dalí had always exhibited a voracious appetite for influences of all styles, leading him to produce works ranging from perfect academic classicism to cutting-edge avante-garde.  His interest in Old Masters dates to his earliest days as a student, and even his signature moustache was influenced by that of the 17th century master, Diego Velಌázquez.

The present drawing dates from 1952, just three years after returning to his beloved Catalonia.  Reconnection to his homeland further strengthened his interest in the past.  In 1951 he painted one of his most celebrated images, Christ of Saint John of the Cross, so named because it was closely modeled on a drawing by the 16th century Spanish friar, St. John of the Cross.  Vierge en Gloire, or The Virgin in Glory derives from one of the most ubiquitous images of Baroque Spain, the Immaculate Virgin.  A masterpiece of 💮draftsmanship, this image evokes the 🌌graceful compositions of Murillo and Tiepolo.