Sidney Z. Lucas (commissioned from the artist)
Thence by descent

Albert Field, The Official Catalogue of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí, New York, 1996, illustration in color of the lithograph p. 164

Work is in good condition. Pigments are remarkably bright and fresh. Executed on card, not laid down. Sheet is attached to mount at several points along the verso of the perimeter. The edges are very slightly irregular. Evidence of minor old frame abrasion along extreme perimeter of sheet. There are some small flattened creases in the collage element at upper left. A close inspection reveals some shrinkage and possible restoration to areas of thickest gouache on the horses.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

American Trotting Horse No. 2 is a wonderful example of a Dalí maquette for a series of prints he designed for Sidney and Phyllis Lucas of New York. The set consists of six lithographs, each of which incorporates a work from the famed American publishing firm Currier & Ives at its lower center, ranging from Central Park, Winter to The Life of a Fireman: The Fire to the present work, which has remained with the Lucas family since Dalí created it.

The influence of past artists was frequently present in Dalí’s work from this period as he sought to integrate his Surrealist aesthetic as well as evolutions in science and technology in masterpieces as storied as Vermeer’s The Lace Maker and Raphael’s Madonna del Cardellino (see Dalí’s Paranoiac-Critical Painting of Vermeer’s “Lacemaker” (fig. 2) and Madone Microphysique).

In the present work two horses pull their drivers, their speed clearly delineated in Dali's thickly applied orange and blue pigments. The Currier & Ives scene represented is a harness race entitled Stella and Alice Grey, Lantern and Whalebone: Passing the Stand depicting a race of 1855 at the Union Course. Dalí had a life-long appreciation and fascination with horses. As Robert Descharnes and Gilles Néret have noted, “Dalí was always a lover of horses. Many of his paintings feature horses, among them The Temptation of St. Anthony, Debris of an Automobile Giving Birth to a Blind Horse Biting a Telephone and St. James of Compostela (Robert Descharnes & Gilles Néret, Salvador Dalí 1904-1989, The Paintings, vol. II, Cologne, 1994, p. 597).