Drypoint, hand-colored with watercolor using the "pochoir" technique; Arches handmade cotton paper with a watermark; Plate print dimensions: 50.5 x 36.5 cm; sheet size: 57 x 76 cm;
In the lower right corner, written in pencil by Atelier Rigal: “BAT pour Dali” and signed with the linked monogram “KP.”
Final print intended personally for Salvador Dalí. On a B.A.T.-type print from Atelier Rigal, the initials “KA” are the personal signature of the master printer (imprimeur) who carried out the printing and coloring process and confirmed that this specific piece serves as the perfect model for the entire subsequent print run.
The frame shown in the photo is not part of the offer
The abbreviation B.A.T. (or BAT) found on a print originates from French and stands for “Bon à tirer” (literally: “good to print” or “ready to print”).
Here is the exact meaning of this notation in the printmaking process:
Master piece: This is a unique, historic piece of the print that the artist reviewed and personally approved with his own signature (or annotation) as the ideal color, tonal, and technical standard for the printer.
Standard for the Entire Print Run: The printer or printmaker producing the entire subsequent series (a numbered edition) had to use this specific print as a guide—every subsequent print had to perfectly match the BAT piece.
Uniqueness and rarity: A Bon à tirer print usually exists as a single piece for a given plate or print. It is not part of the numbered commercial print run (it is outside the numbering sequence, e.g., alongside A.P. / E.A. – Épreuve d’artiste pieces). For this reason, pieces bearing the BAT annotation are particularly sought after and valued by collectors in the art market.
Publisher: Éditions Graphiques Internationales, Paris 1975; Printed by: Ateliers Rigal
Edition: 450 pieces, plus 60 EA (Artist’s Proofs) and 20 HC (pieces not for sale / Hors Commerce)
References: * *Catalogue Raisonnéby Albert Field, nos. 75–8; pp. 106–107
Provenance: from the collection of Maurice Beaufumé, who was responsible for coloring the prints produced at Atelier Rigal.
The 1975 series *Hommage à Leonardo da Vinci* (also known in the literature as *Great American Inventions*) is one of Salvador Dalí’s most significant mature graphic achievements. The portfolio represents an extraordinary fusion of Dalí’s fascination with science, modern technology, and the artistry of the Italian Renaissance master—Leonardo da Vinci. In this series, Dalí juxtaposes two worlds: the precision of engineering thought and his own paranoid-critical surrealist imagination. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo’s famous sketchbooks and manuscripts (the Codex), Dalí took on world-revolutionizing inventions (primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries) and incorporated them into a landscape rich in symbolism.
