The Seven Lively Arts (Dalí)

The Seven Lively Arts was a series of seven paintings created by the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí in 1944 and, after they were lost in a fire in 1956, recreated in an updated form by Dalí in 1957. The paintings depicted the seven arts of dancing, opera, ballet, music, cinema, radio/television and theatre.[1]

The Seven Lively Arts
ArtistSalvador Dalí
Year1944 and 1957

Background

In 1944, as the Second World War was drawing to a conclusion, the impresario Billy Rose, who had bought the Ziegfeld Theatre and converted it back from a cinema to a theater, decided to put on a musical revue, with music by Cole Porter and Igor Stravinski, entitled the Seven Lively Arts. As an additional attraction he commissioned Salvador Dalí to create the original series of seven artworks for display in the theatre lobby. They were painted on site by Dalí in a second floor room. The show ran for 183 performances after which the paintings remained on display for a further ten years, where they were photographed by Life magazine, albeit in black and white. They were then removed to hang in Rose's mansion, Mount Kisco, in New York State. Two years later they were all destroyed in a fire, along with other works of art.

In 1957 Dalí, as an act of gratitude and friendship, offered to recreate the paintings, in an updated form, for the same price as the originals. They were initially hung in Rose's Manhattan apartment, but later dispersed to a number of private collections.

Works
Dance
Opera
Ballet
Music
Cinema
Radio/Television
Theater

See also

References
  1. "'Seven Lively Arts' a Fiery, Fantastic Chapter in Dalí's Career". Salvador Dalí Society. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. Libbey, Peter (2018-12-23). "Pablo Escobar's Wife Says This Painting May Have Saved Her Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
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