Portrait de Harpo Marx avec girafes en feu (Portrait of Harpo Marx with Giraffes on Fire), 1937

Executed in 1937. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Nicolas and Olivier Descharnes.

"A likeness is the first requirement, but I feel something else besides the physical form must be introduced to express the personality within. Let me show you a portrait I have done of Harpo Marx. It is a drawing but it will give you an idea of what I mean” – Salvador Dalí

The exquisite Portrait of Harpo Marx with Giraffes captures the technical prowess and surreal genius of Salvador Dalí’s portraiture. After meeting the beloved comedian in the summer of 1936 in Paris, Dalí swiftly became enamored with Harpo Marx and sent him a self-designed harp, complete with barbed-wire strings and revolving cutlery-adorned knobs. Marx, excited by the eccentric gift, invited Dalí to visit him in Hollywood, and within a month, the two artists began to collaborate. Dalí completed two fantastical drawings of Marx: the first portrait was featured in the June 1937 issue of Harper’s Bazaar; and the second portrait, the present work, was reproduced in Time Magazine in December 1938 and shows Marx playing the harp that Dalí had gifted him. He is surrounded by a group of three standing giraffes whose necks are on fire, a recurrent motif from this period.

Dalí described the image of the burning giraffe as “the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster” that was a premonition of war and the chaos that he feared would soon engulf Europe in the late 1930s. However, the image also held a more light-hearted symbolism in the context of his work with the Marx brothers; the comedians and the painter had written a screenplay titled Giraffes on Horseback Salad which unfortunately never made it to the big screen. Dalí then explained the significance of the flaming giraffes, stating “Slapstick humor." How could that better be expressed than by these giraffes with their burning necks?”

Edward M. M. Warburg held Portrait of Harpo Marx with Giraffes in his collection until his death in 1991. As a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, Warburg was a patron of the arts in New York. In discussing his collection, Warburg echoed Dalí and said, “flaming giraffes make sense around Harpo.” Much of Warburg’s collection was donated to the Museum of Modern Art after his passing, making the present work one of the only remaining works from his collection in private hands.