Dalí, Miró & Picasso

Surrealism found its true champion in Salvador Dalí and the artist's contributions to the cultural and artistic movement are profound. He embraced the principles of tapping into the subconscious mind, exploring dreams and challenging conventional reality. His artworks, characterized by dream-like landscapes, bizarre juxtapositions, and melting forms, exemplify the Surrealist fascination with the irrational.

Dalí's exploration of the subconscious mind is vividly apparent in his prints where melting clocks, distorted figures, and enigmatic landscapes converge. He was keen to explore novel effects through a variety of print media. He famously experimented with the use of ink bullets and snail shells filled with printer’s ink, firing them at his lithographic stones with a 15th century musket. He was also known to fill rhinoceros horns with ink-soaked French bread before using them to draw directly onto the printing plate. In mastering techniques such as lithography, drypoint, etching, and aquatint, Dalí transformed his hallucinatory visions into tangible works of art accessible to a wider audience. 

Where his compatriot Miró preferred to work within the rich tradition of European printmaking, Picasso sought to break the rules and bend established mediums to his will. Over the course of his career, Picasso made over 2,000 prints using a variety of techniques - including etching, linocut and lithography - the last of which was created in 1972 when the artist was 90 years old. He collaborated with a variety of master printmakers such as Fernand Mourlot, who said of Picasso's experimental methods, 'he looked, he listened, did the opposite of what he'd learnt - and remarkably it worked!' 

Renowned for his ability to continually reinvent his artistic style, Picasso's contributions to printmaking are a testament to his boundless innovation. His series of etchings, lithographs, and linocuts showcase his versatility and his uncanny ability to distil complex emotions into simple yet profound images.