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| The old Dali Museum in St. Pete (Courtesy: wikipedia.org) |
On one occasion this artistic venture took my classmates and me to The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida for a field-trip. Memories from your childhood are usually skewed and larger-than-life... I remember riding over the Sunshine Skyway bridge with the crystal-clear water of Tampa Bay surrounding our school-bus on either side arriving at a rather ordinary looking building (it was in reality a converted marine warehouse). What was housed inside this building, however, was much more than some ordinary art collection. I distinctly remember that Ms. Stevens had us pause for what seemed like forever in front of Dali's infamous The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, with its seemingly endless hidden images and minute details. Of course, at the tender age of nine, many of Dali's sexual and other such innuendos fall onto deaf ears (or rather, eyes), but nonetheless it was an awesome piece. Armed with this indelible memory, recently I decided to re-visit this museum after having seen some of Dali's other works in the great museums of the world, notably the The Persistance of Memory in the MoMA in New York City (one of my favorites) and various works in the Reina Sofia modern art museum in Madrid.
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| The new Dali Museum as of 2011 (Courtesy: wikipedia.org) |
Outside of the Dali Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Spain (a small city in Cataluña and Dali's hometown), The Dali Museum contains the largest collection of the artist's work in one location (over 200 pieces). So, you say, Dali was a Spanish ex-pat who loved St. Petersburg, right? Wrong. Weirdly enough, St. Petersburg and Dali have nothing in common. The museum ended up in its present-day home after a couple, the Morse's, decided to donate their massive private collection of Dali artwork for public consumption and conducted a nation-wide search to find a suitable location. The Morse's were obviously huge fans of Dali's artwork and were also personal friends with the artist and his wife, Gala. Thus, in 1982, the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg was born.
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| Outside garden behind the museum |
In 2011, the museum was relocated from the unremarkable warehouse to a brand-new modern facility in downtown St. Petersburg which showcases the artwork much better and fits with its unique, surrealist style. Also, notably, it is apparently hurricane resistant. Situated next to a beautiful harbour, the Museum looks like a normal unassuming building being devoured by a huge glass worm to form a beautiful, if not slightly confused, structure. On the groundfloor there is the Gala Café (a tribute to Dali's wife, Gala, who served as his lifelong companion and muse at 10 years his senior) and large gift shop. Unfortunately, on the date of my attendance the Café closed early in preparation for a private event that evening, but I was told by a reliable source that it had worthy coffee. Behind the museum, facing the harbour, is a patio terrace and small garden to sit and enjoy an espresso while basking in the warm Florida sunshine.
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| Winding staircase to Dali-land |
The artwork is located on the third floor (I do not believe there is a proper "second" floor) which is reached by ascending a huge white spiral staircase which, in Dali style, continues to trail upwards towards that glass-worm object to create a huge dome skylight. As you ascend the spiraling staircase you feel as if you're entering another world when you exit to the third-floor gallery. The floor is divided into two areas: paintings on one side and numerous other mediums of artistic endeavors segregated to the other (sculptures, short films, storybook drawings and various photo ops, among other tidbits such as the Lobster Telephone).
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| Slave Market with the DisappearingBust of Voltaire |
You can see Dali experiment with and hone his skills through notable early works and various self-portraits, including the genesis of his surrealist stage with works such as The First Days of Spring. Works like this convey a sense of vast open nothing-ness that I often feel when looking at his paintings. Other notables for me include the trio of hidden faces, one of which being Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire, where by up-close you glimpse a barren and surreal human market but upon stepping away from the painting you undoubtedly observe a topless woman seated at a table, head on hand, staring at Voltaire's bust. The paintings are each given their own space to be analyzed and enjoyed, and yet since the museum is rather small, you can comfortably dedicate two or three hours to see everything in the museum at a leisurely pace. There are also free tours and free audio guides, which was a welcome surprise. The museum docents leading the guided tours were generally knowledgeable and serve as a good way to orient yourself to Dali and to the museum. However, the tours last only about thirty minutes and thus leave ample time for self-discovery.
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| The Hallucinogenic Toreador |
My personal favorite work is probably the intimidating The Hallucinogenic Toreador, which was painted in Dali's later stages of life. It is a massive fresco by which you can get lost in the various smaller paintings-within-a-painting (his wife's portrait in one corner, slain and dying bulls etched in the bottom, etc.) and simultaneously feel hipnotized by its overall presence as you discern the toreador's face, shedding a tear, in the second Venus de Milo (do you see it in the picture to the left? If not, the toreador's nose is the Venus de Milo in white's left breast, his head is tilting to his left, and the green is his tie against the white of her robe forming his shirt. Outside his right eye he is shedding a tear. Once you see it, you will not be able to "un-see" it). You can easily sit in front of this work for a solid ten minutes without discovering every detail of the painting. Overall, The Hallucinogenic Toreador encapsulates Dali's play with reality and perception. Namely, what you see is in the eye of the beholder.
Perhaps, after all, my fourth-grade field trip did leave an impression on me as it drove me to make a return trip to a small museum brimming with the masterpieces of my favorite artist. Dali's surrealist artwork is quirky, mesmerizing and playful if not downright weird at times. If you are looking for something novel to occupy some of your time in St. Petersburg or even in the surrounding area it is more than worth the trip to this amazing museum.
Useful Info:
- Location: Dali Museum, One Dali Boulevard, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Contact: 727-823-3767
- Hours: M, T, W: 10 AM - 5:30 PM, Th 10 AM - 8 PM, F, Sa: 10 AM - 5:30 PM, Su: 10 AM - 5:30 PM
- Web: http://thedali.org/
