Surrealist Art at the The Salvador Dali Museum, Florida
Museum Overview
The Salvador Dali Museum
is situated on the West Coast of Florida. 200,000 visitors come to the museum every
year. The history of the collection began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942 when industrialist
A. Reynolds-Morse and Eleanor Reese got married and also started their life-long
involvement with Dali and his wife when they purchased his first painting "Daddy
Longlegs of the Evening Hope!" They never looked back and spent the next 40 years
putting together the biggest private collection of Dali's work in the world. With
the financial support of the city of St. Petersburg and the State of Florida they
moved the collection to its current venue in 1980. Over the next 15 years renovations
and extensions took place providing more gallery space as well as a community room
for programs and activities.
Plan Your Visit
For lovers of surrealism then the Salvador Dali Museum in Florida should definitely
be on your "must-see list". The Salvador Dali Museum is located at 1000 Third Street
South in St.Petersburg, Florida. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays
the museum is open from 10am-5.30pm. On Thursdays it is open from 10am-8pm and on
Sundays from 12noon-5.30pm. The museum store, which is worth a visit, remains open
for half an hour after closing time on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays.
Hotel rooms in St.Petersburg can be booked via
MiamiHotels.org
or
OrlandoHotels.org.
Surrealist Art at the The Salvador Dali Museum, Florida
The Salvador Dali Museum in Florida is oozing surrealism. One can't get much more
surrealistic than this museum which holds the world's most comprehensive collection
of works by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Dali's talent was
first recognized in 1925 in his first one-man show in Barcelona. When three of his
paintings were shown in the third annual Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh
in 1928 he became internationally known. One of these paintings was "The Basket
of Bread" which is now in the museum's collection.
Dali soon became a leader of the Surrealist movement but in 1934 he was expelled
form the movement due to his apolitical beliefs as war was approaching. Dali continued
to exhibit surrealist work throughout the next decade and his painting "The Persistence
of Memory" is still one of the most famous surrealist works in the world.
After this Dali moved away from surrealism and towards other types of paintings
based on scientific and religious themes which can also be seen in the museum.
Even though Dali left the surrealist movement, surrealism plays a major part in
this museum. Surrealism was the essence of Dali and consequently it is also at the
very heart of what his museum in Florida is all about. Highlights of the museum's
history include "Masterpieces of Surrealism", "Andre Masson: the 1930s" and Joan
Miro Painted Sculpture" showing how important surrealism is in the "Salvador Dali
Museum".