NGV’s surreal aim to acquire a masterpiece

The NGV is seeking to raise $1.5 million to buy a painting by surrealist Salvador Dali.

Dali’s painting in the NGV. Picture: Aaron Francis

The National Gallery of Victoria is seeking to raise $1.5 million to complete the acquisition of Australia’s first and only painting by surrealist Salvador Dali.

Dali’s Trilogy of the desert: Mirage 1946 is on display at the NGV International and visitors are invited to make a donation to help keep the work in the country.

The artwork was the centrepiece of a triptych commissioned by William Lightfoot Schultz, the founder of Shulton Cosmetics, to promote a new range of perfume and makeup for women.

The painting is being shown publicly for the first time since the mid-1960s and is the subject of the gallery’s annual appeal that supports the acquisition of major works to the collection.

Recent acquisitions by the NGV have included Howard ­Arkley’s Actual Fractual 1994, François Marie Poncet’s neoclassical sculpture Venus 1782 and William Larkin’s Mary, Lady Vere c. 1612-15.

National Gallery of Victoria director Tony Ellwood said Dali had an indelible influence on art movements, artists and pop culture that still continues.

“The NGV has a strong surrealist collection with works by Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Sidney Nolan, Marcel Jean and James Gleeson,” Mr Ellwood said.

“The addition of a Dali would be a defining acquisition for the gallery and for Australia.”

Dali, born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain, held his first solo show in Paris at 25 and quickly became a leading figure in the surrealist movement. His Trilogy of the desert: Mirage 1946 was painted after he left war-torn Europe and was based in the US.

It is considered a key work from a transformative period in which he embraced Catholicism and American consumerism and reinvented his approach to his art.

NGV foundation chairman Leigh Clifford said the acquisition of the Dali would be a testament to the gallery’s strong philanthropic tradition.

“We are publicly seeking $1.5m to ensure this important painting stays in Victoria and we welcome contributions of any size,” Mr Clifford said.