Warning: Irreverent opinions from an uneducated artist follow. If you love Salvador Dali, you might want to skip this post.
In an effort to do something outside my comfort zone, I decided to visit the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. I expected to hate it, since I’m not a Dali fan but, overall, it was interesting and I’m glad I went. If you love Salvador Dali, you’ll love the museum. Even the building is unique, from its outside rounded edges to its interior spiral staircase with the stunning view of the harbor.
The 1st floor was comprised of the cafe and gift shop. The gift shop was a great browse. It had everything from mugs to T-shirts to books and even dream journals.
As I wandered the gift shop, I sauntered past a young couple who were scrutinizing a Dali reproduction, proclaiming it “brilliant.” To me, it was disjointed, unrealistic (probably the whole point since it was surrealism), and nothing I’d want hanging in my house. This is where I started to wonder what people saw in Dali that I didn’t. Would I appreciate it more if I were a painter? What makes art “art?”
The galleries on the 3rd floor present four areas of Dali’s work – Early Work, Anti-Art, Surrealism and Nuclear Mysticism & Late Work. My conclusions?
- Early Work – check
- Anti-Art – incomprehensible
- Surrealism – one of those where you tilt your head sideways thinking maybe it will bring something into focus
- Nuclear Mysticism & Late Work – interesting but . . . nope
So who was Salvador Dali? He was born in Figueres, Spain in 1904. This painting on the right is a self-portrait from 1921 – pretty good work from a 17-year-old. I like this one. I can appreciate the use of color, the delineation of the contours in the face, the expression.
I appreciate all of his early works and what it took to make identifiable subjects look realistic.
But Dali moved away from the paintings I like. He read Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams and said the book was “one of the capital discoveries of my life.” It led him to Paris in 1926 to meet Picasso (another of my not so favorite painters). It was there that he discovered the Surrealist Movement. The subject matter appealed to him – the world of dreams and of the irrational.
Take, for example, Venus de Milo with Drawers (and PomPoms). The description says the drawers are a metaphor for the hidden areas of the unconscious and are a pun on the phrase “chest of drawers.” OK. And the pompoms? Sort of looks like he might’ve spent time at Montmartre’s burlesque shows.
So yes, I see the irrational. But I don’t see what makes it art. What if the pompoms were missing, if the drawers were circular? Is it brilliant just because he thought of it?
Years ago, I went to a museum in Chicago and one of the paintings was a giant red dot in the middle of a canvas. What would disqualify that as art? If it were purple? If it were off-center?
Then there’s the lobster phone. I give up.
However, Dali is, I think, most recognized for his Surrealist paintings. Those are similarly incomprehensible to me. This one is called Daddy Longlegs of the Evening – Hope! (1940). The appeal is lost on me. I wasn’t inspired to spend time contemplating someone else’s dream, what it had to do with hope, or even where the daddy longlegs was in the painting. I have enough trouble with my own dreams. I moved on.
The most engaging part of the museum for me was the gallery where the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technology created a representation of my own dream.
There were 4 triangular columns in the room, each with a large computer screen in the center. I picked my spot, connected my phone via the QR code on the screen and followed the instructions. It told me to type my dream into my phone. I chose the dream where I’m onstage but in the wrong costume. In a few moments it generated the painting on the right. Perhaps the “wrong costume” part has been interpreted as a different era? Who knows? Anyway, I like it.
It then projected each person’s dream (12 of us) onto a grid on the wall. When all 12 were generated, it combined them into one cohesive painting.
As much as I’m not a Salvador Dali fan, I enjoyed the museum and would recommend it. The entry fee is $27 and there is a $10 parking fee. The exhibits on the third floor are wheelchair accessible by elevator.
- 1 Dali Boulevard
- St. Petersburg Florida
- 727-823-3767
- Book tickets via TheDali.org website
- Open daily 10 AM – 6 PM (Thursdays until 8:00 PM)
Lisa Browder 
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