Page 13 - Sandy Jackman Pantai Hotel

The Golden Ratio

Salvador Dali, Pierre Argillet and Madame Christine Argillet

By Deeba Van Overberghe
Looking at an image created by Salvador Dali, one might recall
expressions of the subconscious or the surrealistic take on real life,
but I think of Madame Christine Argillet. She is the daughter of Pierre
Argillet; publisher and lifetime confident of Dali. Pierre Argillet was in-
strumental in the celebration of Dali’s genius and creativity. Together
they produced nearly 200 etchings. His friendship with Dali was to
span over 50 years and Mdm Argillet was to benefit immensely from
their connection.
When hearing Mdm Argillet share her memories of time spent with
Uncle Dali, an adopted member of her family, her soft voice is filled
with joy. Sharing an experience she had when she was very young,
she told of playing in a labyrinth at Dali’s home. As she walked the
labyrinth, she became concerned she wasn’t going to be able to find
her way back, but trusted Dali’s encouragement that all would be well.
Upon reaching his bedroom, she was rewarded with egg-shaped
candies wrapped in beautiful foils. She then ran down to the shore
near his estate and, upon his encouragement, threw the candies
onto the stones near the fishermen to see the effect it would have on
them. She said the candies made this loud, sort of rattling sound as
they fell against the stones. “I didn’t think anything was wrong,” she
remembered, “I was just a little girl and to me this was just a game.”
These were playful times for them and the perfect example of the fun
they would have, exhibiting the curious and experimental side of both
Christine and Dali.
I asked if she felt Dali was analyzing her behavior. She laughed
softly and said that when she was young, she was not conscious of
that, but later understood it. Dali was shy in his private relationships,
which seemed to contradict his public, rather exhibitionistic persona.
But with “La Petite Infante,” (the endearment Dali had for the young
Christine) he was comfortably shy and yet naturally playful. One can
only imagine the way a child would embrace the world of Dali with
giant bears at the front door and labyrinths to journey on a hunt for
candies. As Christine grew through the seventies and went into the
world, she widened her scope of interests in art, and this led to great
discussions with her father in regard to the direction art was taking at
that time and what she liked.
I asked her if it was difficult to grow up with such a force as her
father and in the light of Dali’s great work. She said her father had
a huge admiration for Dali, and that it was a wonderful experience.
She had the opportunity to meet many artists such as Dali, Picasso,
and Wilfredo Lam. Her relationship with her father was very close.
They shared many thoughts and discussions about art, traveled and
prepared exhibitions together. She was able to grow into the world
of art through these unique experiences probably as no other person
ever has. Mdm Argillet is a living record of one of the most dynamic
duos in the world of art, her father and Dali. And now she is the cu-
rator of her father’s legacy. A true example of the Golden Ratio: the
combined dimensions of two create a third, where one cannot exist
without the other two.

We discussed the upcoming exhibit that will be held here in San
Diego at the Meyer Fine Art Gallery. She will be appearing in
San Diego August 23rd and 24th in support of an exhibition of the
exceptional DALI: THE ARGILLET COLLECTION which will be on
exhibition and acquisition from July 25th through September 6th.
This is an astonishing exhibition having toured in several major U.S.
cities, among them Dallas, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami, and
Houston, as well as Singapore.

Madame Argillet kindly shared insight to Dali’s approach as he and confidence, while quickly rendering various shapes and lines into
embarked upon the creation of a series. Dali and her family would go on actual images. His strokes were quick and spontaneous in their birth, as if
picnics, and he would read several books on the subject, and then ponder his pencil was catching up with his intentions. In contrast to his paintings,
its creation for long periods of time. His sketches would soon materialize he would take his time, working for long hours perfecting the aspiration of
in a free association sort of way. He would pen a drawing with such ease the Golden Ratio. Commencing with geometric