Live Auction 1104Impressionist/Modern Works on Paper
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
Lot 269 THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE FLEUR COWLES

Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

Clair de lune avec cygnes à Port Lligat

Closed7 February 2013

Price Realised

GBP 25,000

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
Clair de lune avec cygnes à Port Lligat
signed and dated 'Dalí 1952' (lower centre); with a dedication from Gala Dalí to Fleur Cowles '"If you come see me Port Lligat, I putch candle crowns on heads of swans in my harbour, Port Lligat; this my finest Dalinian greeting for you!"' (lower sheet margin)
gouache, brush and pen and blue ink and wash on paper
Image: 5¼ x 7¼ in. (13.4 x 18.5 cm.)
Sheet: 6¾ x 9 in. (17 x 23 cm.)
Executed in 1950

A gift from the artist to the late owner circa 1955.

Specialist note

Robert and Nicolas Descharnes have confirmed the authenticity of this work.


Fleur Cowles (1908 - 2009) began her career as a columnist for The World Telegram but is best remembered as a style icon, pioneering editor and socialite. In 1946 she married Gardner Cowles of the Cowles Publishing Empire and in 1950, she began creating her own magazine Flair, which her friends Lucian Freud and Salvador Dalí contributed to. This friendship later resulted in the publication of her biography of the artist, The Case of Salvador Dalí (Boston, 1959).