King of Hearts (Playing Cards Portfolio)

Few artists captured the imagination quite like Salvador Dalí. Celebrated as one of the founders of Surrealism, Dalí transformed familiar subjects into extraordinary visions filled with symbolism, imagination and technical brilliance. King of Hearts, published in 1972 as part of the celebrated Playing Cards Portfolio, exemplifies this remarkable ability by elevating a traditional playing card into a sophisticated work of fine art.

King of Hearts forms part of Salvador Dalí’s celebrated Playing Cards Portfolio, an imaginative suite in which the artist transformed the familiar imagery of the traditional deck of cards into a surreal and highly personal visual language. Combining heraldic motifs, dreamlike symbolism and his unmistakable graphic style, Dalí elevated the everyday playing card into a work of fine art.

For centuries, the King of Hearts has occupied a unique place in European playing-card tradition. Often referred to as the “Suicide King” because the sword appears to pass behind his head, the figure has long been associated with themes of sacrifice, mortality and the fragility of power. Dalí embraces these historic associations while reinterpreting the monarch through his own surrealist imagination.

Lithography is an original printmaking process that allows artists to achieve extraordinary richness of colour and expressive drawing. Working directly on a prepared stone or plate, the artist creates an image that is transferred onto fine art paper. Printed on Arches paper, this impression demonstrates the exceptional quality and permanence associated with museum-standard lithography.

This impression is numbered 3/225 and hand-signed by the artist in pencil, from a limited edition of 225 impressions printed on fine Arches paper. The Playing Cards Portfolio remains one of Dalí’s most admired graphic series, appealing equally to collectors of Surrealism, twentieth-century prints and decorative art.