£65m Dali exhibition draws London mega-mansion buyers

One of the most spectacular art exhibitions ever held in London of works by world-renowned Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), including rare pieces not previously exhibited in the UK, has opened at the Sobha Global Studio at 92 Park Lane in Mayfair.Curated by Victoria Golembiovskaya of House of the Nobleman, in association with Alon Zakaim of Alon Zakaim Fine Art, the multi-million-pound art exhibition is sponsored by luxury multinational developer Sobha Realty, with the exhibition open daily to the general public, VIP guests and art buyers/dealers up until Wednesday 25 September 2019.

Some 80 Dali artworks including bronze sculptures, rare drawings, famous lithographs and gouaches are being exhibited in Sobha’s 4,800 sqft exhibition space which has a dramatic central atrium with a 6.2 metre (20ft) high ceiling.

Sourced and shipped to Park Lane from private collections and galleries in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and London the exhibition has taken six months of planning and curation, with the installation giving visitors a unique insight into Dali’s lifelong interest in creating artworks based on animals, mythological creatures and clocks.

One of the centrepieces of the Park Lane exhibition is the stunning Clot Collection, commissioned by Catalan art lover Isidro Clot, which consists of a collection of 44 Dali bronzes, created between 1969-79 from original wax models, which Dali produced by the swimming pool of his house at Port Lligat in Spain.

There are several themes to the sculptures including Greek Antiquity, with pieces depicting Aphrodite, Poseidon and Apollo riding his chariot; there are also religious-icon bronzes depicting Christ, Saint Sebastian and the Madonna; and also Dali’s muse and lover Gala, who is represented in many guises throughout the Clot Collection. The bronze of Perseus was inspired by Cellini’s masterpiece, which Dali saw in Florence whilst The Pieta bronze is based on Michelangelo’s version at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The collection is the biggest single set of Dali bronzes ever exhibited in London.

Later editions of a selection of the bronzes were produced in monumental sizes, Homage to Marcel Duchamp is displayed in Toramaru Park in Japan; a huge version of Muse of Dance is displayed outside the Palacio Euskalduna de la Musica y de Congresos in Bilbao whilst large scale versions of Man on a Dolphin, Poseidon, Cosmic Elephant, Saint Sebastian and Emperor Trajan on Horseback can be seen in the Museo Real Circulo Artistico in Barcelona and on the seaside promenade Paseo del Mar in Marbella.

Another “must see” feature of the exhibition is Dali’s celebrated set of Zodiac lithographs, created in 1967 but acquired by different private collectors and galleries, assembled and displayed together again for the very first time on Park Lane. Other pieces of note are Dali’s The Frozen Watches of Space-Time (1974), his striking and highly elaborate Le Sanglier prints, created in 1971, and Le Mannequin gouache, produced in 1939, one of the earliest pieces in the exhibition.

Some 100 VIP guests are booked in to view the Dali exhibition including Saudi sheikhs, Indian millionaires, Russian bankers, American art buyers and Asian businessman; some flying especially into London to see the artworks.

Sponsor Sobha Realty decided to hold the spectacular Dali art and sculpture exhibition at the Sobha Global Studio in Mayfair because over the last four months since the studio launched Londoners have purchased some £20m worth of luxury Dubai property, including villas and apartments perfect for displaying artwork.

The Londoners, who account for 90% of UK buyers, and purchasers from Manchester, Bradford and the Isle of Wight, have all bought second homes at Sobha Hartland, the developer’s flagship £3bn (GDV) development in the centre of Dubai, an 8m square feet (183 acre) waterfront community, providing 5,000 luxury apartments and 358 villas and townhouses, fronting onto the Dubai Canal.

Of the UK sales, 30% have been large villas and townhouses, perfect for displaying artwork, with the remaining sales being apartments. The largest deals have been to three separate Londoners who have each purchased gigantic Canalside Villa plots, which once build complete will be £10m super-luxury bespoke residences, up to 17,000 sqft in size. These large residences have double height living spaces, providing a perfect canvas for artwork and sculptures.

In order to create an art and property showcase during the Dali exhibition, Sobha Realty have shipped from Dubai to London a series of beautiful bespoke scale-models of the villas, townhouses and apartments at Sobha Hartland, which have been installed on the upper mezzanine level of the Sobha Global Studio.

Visitors to the Dali exhibition will be able to tour the artwork on the lower level and then visit the mezzanine to view the Sobha Hartland villa and townhouse scale models. The exhibition will provide significant “cross-selling” opportunities with visitors able to purchase artwork, and also buy a large villa or townhouse where the art can then be displayed.

PNC Menon, Founder & Chairman of Sobha Realty said, “Sobha Realty is pleased to be supporting the London Dali art and sculpture exhibition and working alongside leading curators House of the Nobleman and Alon Zakaim Fine Art. There has always been interplay between the worlds of luxury property and fine art. Lovers and collectors of beautiful art need luxury homes to display the artwork. Our new Sobha Global Studio provides a perfect venue for an innovative fusion-exhibition of this nature.”

Victoria Golembiovskaya, Founder & Director of House of the Nobleman said, “Salvador Dali is the father of surrealism in art and his legacy is as powerful as that of Picasso. For this special Mayfair exhibition House of the Nobleman has brought together extremely rare Dali pieces which have not previously been exhibited in London and visitors will also be able to view the magnificent Clot Collection and the collection of Zodiac lithographs which have not been displayed together in London before, it’s a “must see” exhibition for lovers and serious buyers of Dali artwork.”

Alon Zakaim, Founder & Director of Alon Zakaim Fine Art said, “London is a leading international art market, with art sales of £11.5bn last year and a 21% share of the global art market. Only Manhattan (44%) has a larger market share of global art sales. Art collectors from all over the world travel to London to view, purchase and trade artworks. Property and fine art always go together, and we are regularly asked by high-net-worth clients to source and curate art collections for their various homes around the world.”

Anastasia Dolgopolova from House of the Nobleman will be acting as Resident Art Curator during the Dali exhibition and will be available on a daily basis to show visitors around the installation and explain the provenance of each of the Dali pieces on display.

The Dali exhibition will be open daily, from 10am to 5:30pm weekdays, with viewings by prior appointment on Saturdays and Sundays. All the Dali art and sculptures in the Mayfair exhibition are available to purchase with prices ranging from £3,000 up to £750,000.

Prices at Sobha Hartland start from £170,800 for a one-bedroom apartment. Larger villas and townhouses ideal for displaying artwork include the London-inspired Hartland Garden Houses (starting from £1.1m), the Gardenia Villas (starting from £1.6m) and the Forest Villas (starting from £3.31m).