Original Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989) lithograph with drypoint etching (à la pointe sèche) — a rare and refined combination of techniques.

“Dragon Apple” from the Floradali series – 1969/1970

Extremely rare edition of only 35 pieces printed on nacre Japanese paper

Hand-signed by the artist and numbered: XXXV/XXXV

Size: 100 × 70 cm

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Artwork Essay

The Floradali series is one of Salvador Dalí’s most poetic and enigmatic cycles, where the world of flora becomes a stage for metaphysical transformation. In Dragon Apple, the artist merges two opposing forces — fruit and beast, life and destruction, temptation and danger.

At first glance, the composition appears to depict simply a beautiful apple, but upon closer inspection, we perceive the presence of original sin and a lurking beast — the dragon. Dalí creates a new kind of nature: surreal, mythological, and perilous. The apple stands as a symbol of temptation and primal knowledge, while the dragon within it serves as a warning of the destructive power of passion and forbidden understanding concealed beneath the skin of desire.

Executed with the drypoint etching technique (à la pointe sèche), the work gains a tactile, fragile intensity — each line seems to carve through the paper like a claw slicing into fruit.

Dragon Apple is a symbol of the duality of all living things: what attracts may also destroy. It is an image of seduction, laced with danger. Dalí masterfully transforms flora into fauna, nature into metaphor, inviting the viewer to reflect on where beauty ends and threat begins — and what lies beneath what we long for.