Bernard Ewell is probably the only Dalí appraiser who can be called independent and objective. He talks about the stories of some players in the market of Dalí’s Sculptures in his recent work Artful Dodgers: Fraud & Foolishness in the Art Market. Ewell has more than 40 years’ experience in studying and identifying Dalí’s works. His professional opinions are accepted by the US court. His Art Multiples Law, which he co-authored with the state Attorney General of Wisconsin, provides an example for other states to make similar law. He teaches Principals of Valuation course at many universities in the US. The followings are some of his opinions:
Dalí’s Sculptures appear in the market in recent years and like Dalí’s prints, the sources of these sculptures are complicated and their authenticity is uncertain. The worst of it is that we can barely get reliable information to identify them.
Nearly all Dalí’s bronze sculptures are casted after his death. Dalí himself did not see nearly a piece of finished product except some of the plaster models. Dozens of manufacturers are producing and selling these sculptures. Most of them just make his two-dimension oil paintings into three-dimensional sculptures. Strictly speaking, these works are made by others who are inspired by Dalí’s original paintings.
In the market of Dalí’s sculptures, there is anything but rare. Beniamino Levi, one of the manufacturers, is selling 29 Dalí’s sculptures of different size and color. It is estimated that he has sold about 100 thousand sculptures said to be Dalí’s works. Another manufacturer Obra Contemporánea is producing and selling 22 bronze versions of the 44 wax sculptures collected by Isidro Clot Collection (this is probably the only three-dimensional image which is made by Dalí himself for mass production). This company has produced about 440 thousand sculptures which are sold as the original works. Other manufacturers also produce countless bronze sculptures.
We cannot know the sale of the replicas every year. But according to Art News in December, 2008, Thane Peterson estimates that those buyers who do not doubt the originality of the sculptures “might spend millions of US dollars this year” on the purchase.
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