Salvador Dali's Museum - an amazing museum in an out of the way location!

Shortly before marrying in 1942, A. Reynolds Morse & Eleanor R. Morse attended a Dalí retrospective at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Intrigued by the artist's subject matter, and impressed by his draftsmanship, they bought their first painting a year later. The purchase began a 40-year relationship as patrons and friends of Dalí that resulted in a comprehensive collection of original Dalí work.

Until 1971, the Morses displayed their collection in their Cleveland, Ohio, home. When they loaned over 200 pieces to a Dalí retrospective in 1965, they realized that 25 years of collecting produced a mini-retrospective that needed a permanent home.  In March 1971, with Dalí presiding over the opening, the Morses opened a museum adjacent to their office building in Beachwood, Ohio. By the end of the decade with an overwhelming number of visitors, the Morses decided to again move their collection.

After a search that drew national attention, a marine warehouse in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida was rehabilitated and the museum opened on March 7, 1982.   

In mid-2008, a new location for the Dali museum was announced. Designed by Yann Weymouth of the architectural firm HOK and built by The Beck Group under the leadership of then-CEO Henry C. Beck III, it was built on the downtown waterfront next to the Mahaffey Theater, on the former site of the Bayfront Center, an arena that was demolished in 2004. The new, larger and more storm-secure museum opened on January 11, 2011. Reportedly costing over $30 million, this structure features a large glass entryway and skylight made of 1.5 inch thick glass. Referred to as the “Enigma”, the glass entryway is 75 feet tall and encompasses a spiral staircase.  The remaining walls are composed of 18-inch thick concrete, designed to protect the collection from hurricanes.

The above text is from Wikipedia: instead of reinventing the wheel, I’d rather give credit to an excellent introduction to why there is a Dali Museum in such a small out of the way place like St Petersburg. 

The city fathers certainly used their marketing salesmanship to get the Morses to come to their town.

We were lucky in that my hostess knew a docent (like a Trustee) and she arrived promptly and took us on a personal tour of the place. For an hour, from 3.30pm, she was a veritable walking encyclopaedia on Dali and the Museum. People would get around us as she explained various works to us. Thank you, J.

The very first painting of Dali which you see above is the 1943 called “Daddy longlegs by the evening - Hope”. Painted in 1940, it was sold to the Morse family for US$ 1250. And then Dali sold the frame for US$ 1750!!

This painting above  is really huge. It must be at least 25 ft high and it stands regally in the gallery. One of the first things that strikes the visitor is that many of the paintings are so complex. There are images with images within images!! Look carefully at the next few photographs and you will see images coming out of some larger image!! It’s unique and very difficult to do so successfully as part of a larger design.

The lower visual is part of the bottom section of the main painting – you can clearly see figurines painted as if its part of the base!

Here is a ghoulish painting but again intriguing – see the eyes which are actually faces and the human body which is prt of the cheek! Dali really was a master of surrealism.

The painting of Dali’s wife within Abraham Lincoln’s face is in 3D. – It took one year and is over 5 ft high. It is therefore classified as a “Monumental” work.

You see the painting through a glass and see the difference!

The Dali Museum has over 100 oil paintings and a total of over 2,000+ works by the Master.

Outside, after the exhibits,  there is a superb shop selling Dali items…. You go crazy trying to decide what to buy…. But beware. You will land up buying what you think is a great design or item; little remembering that the person who is getting it is unlikely to wear / use it at all. I loved the earrings and bought two sets. They still lie in my cupboard as Indian faces are not suitable for Daliesque designs! There is a car on display there which is nice but frankly I felt it was out of place. I don’t think Dali used it. You will enjoy the range of T shirts, cards, posters, miscellanea on sale. Browse around… the staff are very helpful. I think there are some discounts available too.

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