Salvador Dalí – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Plate V (1969)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Plate V (1969)

Artist: Salvador Dalí
Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Plate V
Series: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Portfolio (1969)
Year: 1969
Medium: Heliogravure in colours on Mandeure paper
Image Size: 39.4 × 26.7 cm (15 1/2 × 10 1/2 in)
Sheet Size: 43.2 × 29.2 cm (17 × 11 1/2 in)
Edition: 2,500 — this example: 1,650/2,500
Signature: Signed “Dalí / 1968” in plate
Watermark: Mandeure
Printer: Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Publisher: Maecenas Press — Random House, New York
Frame: Unframed
Type: Limited edition heliogravure — from the complete Alice portfolio

Description

Plate V is the most architecturally grounded and spatially constructed image in the portfolio — a composition built around a real threshold, a real staircase, a real door, yet populated with elements that dissolve the reality of the setting into pure surrealist dream. A rustic building dominates the centre: its ochre-tiled roof warm against a sky of blue and lavender, its facade washed in pink and white, its door a dark rectangle from which an enormous disembodied arm and hand emerge — Alice’s arm, grown to impossible scale, reaching out from the confined interior into the world. A green caterpillar ascends the central staircase with methodical purpose; a small orange butterfly hovers at mid-height; at lower right, a striped insect — butterfly or moth — rests near the reaching hand. To the left, a bare tree rendered in fluid black calligraphic line rises alongside a cat silhouette, its baroque scroll-work base anchoring the composition’s darker register.

The image illustrates the episode in which Alice, having consumed the growth-inducing cake, finds herself too large for the White Rabbit’s house — her arm thrust through the window, her body compressed into a space that cannot contain it. Dalí captures this moment of bodily impossibility with architectural precision: the building is solid and specific, the arm is real and enormous, and the gap between the two is the source of the image’s uncanny power. The plate signature appears discreetly lower right.

Printed by Princeton University Press on Mandeure paper and published by Maecenas Press / Random House, New York, 1969.

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FAQ

Is this an original Dalí print?
Yes — an original heliogravure in colours on Mandeure paper, signed “Dalí / 1968” in the plate, from the 1969 Maecenas Press / Random House edition of 2,500.

What is the edition size?
2,500 impressions — this example is number 1,650.

Can I acquire the complete portfolio?
Yes — the complete set of 14 framed prints plus the first edition book is available separately. Contact us for details.

What is a heliogravure?
A photomechanical intaglio printing technique of exceptional tonal range and chromatic subtlety — one of the finest reproductive processes in the history of fine art printing.

Is the work framed?
No — sold unframed. Please contact us for framing options.

Do you ship internationally?
Yes — worldwide, with museum-grade flat packaging, full insurance, and shipment tracking.

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