• Johnson's Paint advert Paint-maker's plight Salvador Dali L'oeil du peintre 1942 Johnson's Paint advert Paint-maker's plight Salvador Dali L'oeil du peintre 1942

Johnson's Paint advert Paint-maker's plight Salvador Dali L'oeil du peintre 1942

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Johnson's Paint & Johnson's Wax. S.C. Johnsons & Son, Inc. "A paint-maker's plight… interpreted by Salvador Dali" [Salvador Dali, L'oeil du peintre]


This artwork was commissioned for S.C. Johnson & Co for use in this advertising campaign in 1942, entitled A Paintmaker’s Plight. The accompanying text begins: “Mr. Dalí’s conception of a paint manufacturer at work may seem a bit bizarre. Actually, there are moments when the problems of our customers are just as confusing as Mr. Dalí’s picture. But we welcome the challenge.” The original painting was most recently sold at auction in 2019 for $711,000 by Christie's who noted "Proceeding to expound the challenges of creating paint for multiple uses, the text of the advertisement further touches on requests by customers for solutions to treat bobby pins, baby furniture, tobacco cans, kitchen cabinets and incubators, Venetian blinds, farm implements and acoustical tiles. An earnest yet wildly at-odds attempt at creative advertising, it must have been an interesting proposition for the beguiled copywriter to try to reconcile Dalí’s "interpretation" with the commercial imperative. Now titled L’Oeil du peintre, the work exists within its own right as a clearly autobiographical portrait with little concern for the advertising brief, if there ever happened to be one. It relates back to significant visual themes within his practice up until this time, explored through the artist’s "paranoid critical method" of the unconscious or delirious association of otherwise unrelated objects."

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Size 33 x 27 cm | 13.0 x 10.5 inches

Date Published: 1942

Type: Vintage magazine advertisement

Author: Dali, Salvador

Publication: Fortune Magazine

Fortune Magazine March 1942 Volume XXV. Number 3

Condition: Good |

Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. There is text and/or images printed on the reverse side

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Good

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