Two of Swords by Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí
1904-1989 | Spanish

Two of Swords

Signed “Dalí” (upper right)
Gouache on photographic background

Representing a unique blend of spiritualism and Surrealism, this gouache hails from Salvador Dalí’s fascinating and highly inventive deck of custom-made tarot cards. The original commission for the design came from Albert Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond film Live and Let Die, who sought a tarot card deck to use in the film. Though the contractual deal eventually fell through, Dalí continued the project of his own accord, largely thanks to the inspiration of his wife Gala, who had an interest in mysticism. 

The Surrealist maestro drew upon a number of influences to complete the deck, which comprised 78 cards in total—22 major arcana and 56 minor. His own self-portrait served as the Magician card, while his beloved wife Gala naturally posed for the Empress. Jan Gossaert’s 1516 Renaissance work Neptune and Amphitrite was the basis for the Lovers card, while the Queen of Cups card represents a fascinating marriage of Duchamp’s iconic Mona Lisa remix, L.H.O.O.Q., with a portrait of Elizabeth of Austria. The iconography of the deck is as eclectic as one would expect from the Surrealist master; it is little wonder that it took him 10 years to complete the project.

This gouache is among the original 56 minor arcana cards, depicting the Two of Swords. Traditionally showing a blindfolded woman balancing a sword in each hand, the Two of Swords card represents rational decision-making, intuition and self-discipline. When one draws this card, it indicates a need for reflection rather than action, looking inward for direction and conviction in one’s own judgment. Reversed, the card suggests indecision in the face of a difficult choice.

Dalí reimagined the traditional visual elements of this card, modeling it after a 12th-century German manuscript illumination depicting Saint Mark writing his Gospel, his quill replaced with swords. A crescent moon, representing cyclical change, floats above the figure, and below is a bull containing a drawing of the sea, symbolizing our deepest thoughts and feelings.

After Dalí completed his deck, the original cards were assembled and published in a limited art edition in 1984. While a number of editions have since been printed of the cards, this Two of Swords is the artist’s original gouache creation.

Born in Catalonia in 1904, Dalí was formally educated in the fine arts in Madrid, particularly falling under the influence of the Impressionists and the Renaissance masters. At a young age, he became associated with the Madrid avant-garde group Ultra, though he eventually became more acquainted with other movements such as Cubism, Dada and Futurism. By the late 1920s, his mature Surrealist style had already begun to emerge, and in 1929, he officially burst onto the avant-garde art scene with his Un Chien Andalou, a short film he made with Spanish director Luis Buñuel.

Today, he is remembered as one of the most legendary and significant contributors to Surrealism. His Persistence of Memory, with its melting clocks, is arguably the most recognizable painting of the movement. Two museums—one in St. Petersburg, Florida and another in Catalonia—are entirely devoted to his oeuvre; other important works by the artist can be found in the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), among many others.

This work is accompanied by its certificate of authenticity from the Archives Descharnes.

Circa 1971

Paper: 12" high x 9 1/8" wide (30.48 x 23.81 cm)
Frame: 29 1/4" high x 25 3/4" wide x 1 1/2" deep (74.30 x 65.41 x 3.81 cm)

Provenance:
Gertrude Stein Gallery, New York
Opera Gallery, London
Private collection, Paris
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Private collection, United States
M.S. Rau, New Orleans