Salvador Dali - Benjamin (from the "Twelve Tribes of Israel") 1972

Artist: Salvador Dali

Medium: Drypoint with etching and pochoir in colours on wove paper

Year: 1972

Edition: 30/195

Sheet size: 47x60 cm

Signature: Hand-signed

Editor: Transworld Art, New York

Publications:

- "The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dali", Albert Field, pag 78, N° 72-6 K;

- "Catalogue Raisonne of Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints" by Michler and Löpsinger, pag 217, N°619

Frame: No

Insured shipping included

Certificate of Authenticity included

About the work:

On 14th May 1948 in Tel Aviv, after the British withdrew from Palestine, the Jewish Agencies Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel as the first Jewish settlement in 2000 years.  The State of Israel was broken up into 12 states which were named after the twelve tribes according to the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 33:25 & Judges 5:14-18).  

In 1972, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, Dali created an elegant and brightly rendered suite of thirteen etchings. This portfolio, entitled The Twelve Tribes of Israel, explored the themes of exile and return surrounding Jewish history, faith and mythology. This artistic rendition illustrated the Tribes through their descendants into the Third Jewish Commonwealth, after two thousand years of exile. Each etching represented one of these tribes which were named for Jacob’s brothers: Joseph, Zebulun, Gad, Judah, Asher, Dan, Benjamin, Reuben, Naphtali, Levi, Issacar, and Simeon. 

The Book of Numbers teaches us that each Tribe had its own characteristic symbol used in its encampment: “The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their father’s households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance” (The Book of Numbers 2:7).  

The portfolio was highly celebrated, and considered by many to be Dali’s most diplomatic work in its sensitive reference to one of the most contentious socio-political developments of the modern era. Its significance to the contemporary world lay in its attempt to represent a new generation of Judaism. With the suite of works, Dali delineated the history of Israel and the Jewish people, and, with great sensitivity, modernised its symbolism and developed a contemporary language for the new generation.  

In 1973, the series was also produced as twelve silver medals, and an introduction by Abba Eban, Israel's then Foreign Minister, was presented with the medals.  
The various suites of multiples created by Dali during the late 1960s and 1970s, including the Twelve Tribes portfolio, are considered to be Dali’s most desirable, as he was at his most experimental, and often challenged the conventions of traditional printmaking.