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cool chess set by salvador dali

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munchkin

salvador dali chess set

I was at the art gallery of ontario last week and i saw this cool chess set. It is made by Salvador Dali and titled "Homage to Marcel Duchamp" . Apparently all the peices were cast from Dali's own fingers except the queen and rooks.

From the net:

And it is inspired. Except for the queens and rooks, Dali modelled the pieces after his own fingers. The queens were cast from the thumb of his wife Gala, and for the rooks he used a salt shaker from the St. Regis Hotel in New York. Both bronze and sterling editions were produced for the American Chess Foundation. F. J. Cooper of Philadelphia minted just 45 sets and Dali signed every piece. Staring at the set one is both startled and amused. The kings and queens are crowned with a cast of a tooth, possibly a dental pun, but the salt shakers are topped with a cast of Dali’s nipple. The mix of ghoulish and random make for a strangely resonant sculptural entity.

As for Dali’s explanations: “I had a precise and yet symbolic concept,” he said. “In chess, as in other forms of human alchemy, there is always the creator, above all, the artist as creator. It is this that I wanted represented: the hand of the artist, the eternal creator. How better to express this vision than by sculpting my own hand, my own fingers?”

When asked by F. J. Cooper “Why the teeth?” Dali replied “Why not?”

amitprabhale

Wow wht's da cost?

munchkin

i don't know, but maybe if i win the lottery i will try and find out.

madpawn

Being of an abstract and at at times playful mind. I wonder if he had meant to send individual pieces to his enemies.

That aside, thanks for the very beautiful image, Munchkin. I hope you did well in your studies and can concentrate on chess once again.

madpawn

There is a beer in England called Bishop's Finger (an ale actually) but this ridiculous!

Furthermore

^^ Wants.

grantchamp

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

janetg

cool

SalvadorDaliFan

Reply: How much does it cost? I will try to save a lot of money and purchase that one.haha But I guess it will take me years to save though. Too bad. :( Dali's works are my favorite and I want to have one as my collection. You could also find Dali's great works here Salvador Dali Prints

relaxedPirate

Dude has a lot of fingers

ker123

Cool and weird.