Auction introduction: Sotheby’s is delighted to present at auction this exceptional collection of drawings by Dado. We are familiar with the uncompromising vision and radical imagination of the Montenegrin artist through his painting, but there is still so much to rediscover in the extreme technical virtuosity and meticulous detail of the drawings from his early years. From them emerges a perfectly controlled chaos, reminiscent of the fantastical universe of Hieronymus Bosch, that sets Dado apart as an extraordinary artist, akin to the Flemish primitives. Preserved for more than half a century by major gallerist and Dado’s first dealer, Daniel Cordier, also known as an early member of the French Resistance, these works remained in his possession from their creation until their transfer in the 2000s. It was another great figure of postwar art, Jean Dubuffet, who recognized Dado’s talent very early on and arranged the meeting between him and Daniel Cordier. These drawings, previously unseen on the market and largely unknown, except for those shown in Vence at the Galerie Chave’s Dado exhibition in 2004, represent a significant addition to the painter’s body of work.