Salvador Dali turns 120 years old this Spring. As his lithographs are one of the most appraised material, I present his most viewed work of art: the wrapping for the iconic lollipop “Chupa Chips,” designed by Dali in 1969.
Spanish scientist Enric Bernat founded Chupa Chips in 1958 in Asturias Spain. He introduced the candy he named GOL, developed so kids could eat candy without sticky fingers—a lollypop. GOL didn’t become popular even with the gimmick that the candy mimicked a soccer ball and the kid’s mouth the net: hence “The Goal.” Inventor Bernat tried the name “Chups” (Spanish for lick) for the lollypop. Still, no luck in the kid’s candy market.
Dali entered the scene in 1969
Dali needed ways to raise money to support his and wife Gala’s opulent, bizarre parties hosted at their home in Portlligat, Spain. Raves were thrown with wild costumes, in staged rooms, accompanied by lion cubs and other wild creatures. Revelers might get treated to recipes from Dali’s 1973 Surrealist cookbook, Les Diners de Gala, re-issued by Taschen (2016). The menu included such delights as frog pasties or toffee with pinecones.
Wife Gala, also the artist’s manager, suggested Dali lend his famously weird face and persona to high-paying advertisers. Dali did photo advertising for a Spanish chocolate maker, grimaced for the camera for Alka Seltzer, and designed ads for Schiaparelli. He also designed hats: I own one. For Chups inventor Bernat, perhaps as a fellow Catalonian, Dali met him personally for a hands-on design session at a coffee bar: Dali asked for hefty compensation. He got it. Grabbing yesterday’s newspaper, in red ink, Dali scripted “Chupa Chips” on a yellow daisy, and put the daisy circle on the crown of the candy ball. Dali suggested a countertop display stand with the tops of the candies facing the young “buyers.” A great article about Dali’s design of this world-famous, never-changing candy wrapper appeared on Artnet’s Artbites.
Tidbits I leave you with:
Salvador Dali’s 120th birthday celebrates the most famous Taurus astrological celebrity. Dali’s Sun is in Taurus as well as his Venus, Mercury and Mars. He was fond of astrology: see his Taurus lithograph from his series Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, a complete folio of thirteen lithographs, boxed, created in 1967 as a limited edition of only 250 (New York Press, First Edition 1969). Just one lithograph from this series sells for $450 and up; the set sells for $8,000 and up.
Chupa Chups come in 100 flavors worldwide (tea & lemon?), but Bernat didn’t invent the lollypop. That candy concoction came about in Connecticut in 1908, named after Lolly Pop, a famous racehorse.
Fashion designer Tezenis recently borrowed Dali’s 1969 Chups design and colors as a theme for an underwear runway show. The candy with its Dali-esque wrapper flew to outer space in 1995 with Russian astronauts at the MIR International Space Station
At the end of the 20th century, Enric Bernat’s company sold the 40 billionth lollipop.
