On numerous occasions, Salvador Dalí declared that eroticism was a divine thing, inseparable from mysticism, since Eros was a god . The genius of Ampurdán immersed himself fearlessly into the realm of erotic drives and the Oedipal traumas involved in them.

One of Dalí’s drawings that Setdart gathers in his ongoing auctions contains several sketches of erotic content , showing anatomical sections, masturbations, male figures related to Greek satyrs, and female forms metamorphosing into chickens. In the same role, the central place is occupied by a preparatory study for the painting “Living Still Life” (1956, kept at the Dalí Museum in Florida). Many elements already appear in this sketch that will be present in the final canvas: a series of objects (bottles, knives, fruits or spheres) levitating on a table, moving at will or according to Dalí’s interpretation of the atomic laws as they were being formulated by quantum physics, which so fascinated the surrealist painter. Dalí called this plastic research “nuclear mysticism”

This work (lot 35148668, “Etudeper le tableau Nature morte vivante et croquis éroques”, ca.1956) includes a certificate issued by Archives Descharnes, and presents the seal of the Perrot-More collection, whose owner John Peter Moore was the personal secretary by Dalí, who worked alongside the artist from 1960 to 1974.

Another subject that fascinated Dalí was the figure of Don Quixote, with whose madness he to some extent wanted to identify himself. His fascination with the Ingenious Hidalgo was materialized in the abundant drawings, illustrations, engravings and sculptures that the artist dedicated to the character of Cervantes.