HELLO.

I'M DALIA COLON, AND THIS IS THE

SEASON 5 PREMIER OF

"WEDU ARTS PLUS."

HERE AT THE DALI MUSEUM, EVEN

THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING

PAYS HOMAGE TO THIS FAMOUS

ARTIST'S VISION AND UNIQUE

PERSPECTIVE.

IN THIS SEGMENT, LEARN ABOUT

SALVADOR DALI, EXPLORE THE

MUSEUM THAT HOUSES THE

SURREALIST PAINTER'S WORKS,

AND FIND OUT HIS CONNECTION

TO ST. PETERSBURG.

♪

THE SALVADOR DALI IS PROBABLY

THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE 20th

CENTURY ARTISTS.

HE WAS SPANISH, AND HE WAS A

SURREALIST.

SPANISH, THOUGH, HE SPENT HALF

OF HIS TIME IN THE UNITED STATES

AND WAS HIGHLY INFLUENCED BY

AMERICAN CULTURE.

HE ALSO INFLUENCED OUR CULTURE,

INFLUENCED AMERICAN POPULAR

CULTURE AND ITS HIGH ART.

THE SURREALISTS WERE THOSE

ARTISTS THAT ESSENTIALLY USED

WHAT WE WOULD UNDERSTAND AS

COLLAGE.

THEIR AESTHETIC WAS A COLLAGED

AESTHETIC.

THAT IS, YOU TAKE SOMETHING FROM

ONE PLACE AND SOMETHING FROM

ANOTHER PLACE THAT WERE NOT

TOGETHER AND YOU PUT THEM

TOGETHER AND YOU CREATE

SOMETHING NEW.

BUT DALI DID THAT IN A DIFFERENT

WAY.

HE COLLAGED HIS DREAMS, AND HE

WOULD TAKE IMAGES FROM HIS

DREAMS AND PUT THEM ON CANVASES.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, HE CALLED

HIS PAINTINGS DREAM PHOTOGRAPHS.

THE IDEA OF SURREALISM IS THAT

THE WORLD IS NOT REAL, THAT IT'S

AN ILLUSION, AND THAT SOMETHING

ELSE, WHAT GOES ON IN OUR MINDS

AND IN OUR HEARTS IS MORE REAL,

AND THEY TRY TO GET TO THIS

GREATER REALITY.

♪

THE DALI MUSEUM IS VISITED BY

PEOPLE FROM MORE THAN 30

COUNTRIES EVERY YEAR AROUND THE

WORLD.

AS MANY AS 400,000 VISITORS TO

THE DALI EACH YEAR, AND THAT HAS

BEEN GROWING PRETTY STEADILY

THROUGHOUT THE LAST FEW YEARS.

AND SINCE BUILDING THIS NEW

MAGNIFICENT BUILDING, WE'RE ABLE

TO ACCOMMODATE MORE VISITORS,

WHICH HAS BEEN GREAT.

WE ARE SITTING IN A BUILDING

THAT AOL ONLINE CALLED ONE OF

THE 10 BUILDINGS YOU MUST SEE IN

YOUR LIFETIME.

AND IT'S BEAUTIFULLY REALIZED BY

HOK ARCHITECTS AND THE DESIGNER

YANN WEYMOUTH TO COMPLEMENT

DALI'S VISION.

IT'S A KIND OF COMBINATION OF

CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE,

VERY CORRECT, WITH

FANTASTICAL ELEMENTS.

FOR INSTANCE, ABOVE US RIGHT NOW

IS A GEODESIC DOME THAT HAS BEEN

WARPED BY A COMPUTER SO THAT

EVERY PANEL OF GLASS IS A

DIFFERENT SIZE AND A DIFFERENT

SHAPE.

1,064 PANES OF GLASS, NO TWO THE

SAME SIZE OR SHAPE.

SO IT'S LIKE LOOKING OUT THROUGH

A KALEIDOSCOPE SEEING THE WORLD

FRAMED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

WHEN THEY COME, WE TRY TO ORIENT

THEM A LITTLE BIT TO DALI.

THE COLLECTION OF THE DALI

MUSEUM IS BASED IN A PRIVATE

COLLECTION, ORGANIZED AND

GATHERED OVER FOUR DECADES BY A

COUPLE, REYNOLDS AND ELEANOR

MORSE.

THE BACKSTORY IS, OF COURSE,

THAT THE MORSES, WHO WERE

FRIENDS OF DALI AND A HUGE

COLLECTOR OF HIS, WERE LOOKING

FOR A SPACE TO SHOW OFF THEIR

COLLECTION AND CREATE A MUSEUM.

AND ST. PETERSBURG WAS A

CONTENDER AND LUCKY ENOUGH TO

MAKE THE ARRANGEMENTS TO CREATE

AND OPEN A MUSEUM HERE IN THE

EARLY '80s.

THE MORSES FELT THAT THIS

CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG WAS A

LITTLE BIT LIKE PORT LLIGAT

WHERE DALI LIVED RIGHT ON THE

SEA.

WE HAVE A HUNDRED PAINTINGS,

2,000 ADDITIONAL WORKS OF DALI,

REALLY THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE

COLLECTION OF DALI'S WORK IN THE

WORLD.

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT ON AN

EXHIBITION OF DALI IN THE WORLD

WITHOUT BORROWING FROM OUR

COLLECTION BECAUSE IT'S SO

IMPORTANT.

WE WORK TO PROVIDE DIFFERENT

EXHIBITIONS OF DALI.

SO EVERY TIME YOU COME, YOU'LL

SEE DIFFERENT WORKS OF DALI,

ALSO THE WORK ORGANIZED IN A

DIFFERENT WAY SHOWING DIFFERENT

THEMES OF DALI.

NOW, OUR CURATORS ALSO

COMPLEMENT THAT WITH OTHER

ARTISTS, ARTISTS THAT PERHAPS

KNEW DALI, ARTISTS THAT DALI

ADMIRED, AND THAT TERRAIN IS

VERY RICH AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO

HAVE WONDERFUL SHOWS.

WE'VE WELCOMED ANDY WARHOL.

WE'VE HAD PABLO PICASSO.

WE HAD M.C. ESCHER.

CURRENTLY, WE ARE EXHIBITING

AN EXHIBITION OF DISNEY AND

DALI.

THIS "DISNEY AND DALI:

ARCHITECTS OF THE IMAGINATION"

EXHIBITION IS REALLY ABOUT THEIR

KIND OF UNLIKELY COLLABORATION

AND BOTH BEING REALLY PIONEERS

AND VISIONARIES IN THE WORLD OF

IMAGINATION AND INNOVATION.

I THINK DALI IS KNOWN FOR TWO

THINGS PRIMARILY.

ONE IS THE MUSTACHE ON HIS

PERSON, AND THE OTHER IS HIS

PAINTING OF MELTING CLOCKS.

AND WE HAVE ONE OF HIS MOST

IMPORTANT MELTING CLOCK

PAINTINGS, WHICH IS CALLED

"THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE

PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY."

IN IT THE CLOCKS ARE MELTING,

BUT ADDITIONALLY, THE SEAFLOOR

IS COMING UP AND EVERYTHING IS

DIVIDED INTO ATOMS AND THE WORLD

IS SEPARATED IN ITS PARTS.

DALI'S WIFE SAID, "ONCE PEOPLE

SEE THOSE MELTING CLOCKS,

THEY WILL NEVER FORGET THEM."

AND I THINK IT'S TRUE.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PAINTINGS AND

ONE THAT PEOPLE COME FROM ALL

AROUND THE WORLD TO SEE HAS A

LONG TITLE.

IT'S CALLED GALA -- HIS WIFE

GALA, "GALA CONTEMPLATING THE

MEDITERRANEAN SEA WHICH AT

TWENTY METERS BECOMES THE

PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN."

ON THE ONE HAND, WHEN YOU FIRST

LOOK AT THE PAINTING, YOU SEE

HIS WIFE LOOKING OUT INTO THE

MEDITERRANEAN SEA.

BUT WHEN YOU GET BACK FAR

ENOUGH, AND HE SAID 20 METERS IN

THE TITLE, YOU SEE GALA

DISAPPEARS AND YOU SEE THAT THE

ENTIRE PAINTING IS THE BUST OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WE ALSO HAVE ONE IN WHICH DALI

HAS INSCRIBED HIS NAME AND HIS

WIFE'S NAME INTO DNA.

AND SO THE PAINTING IS CALLED

"GALACIDALACIDESOXYRIBONUCLEIC-

ACID."

SO IT'S A PAINTING THAT HAS

SCIENCE IN IT, LIFE AND DEATH,

HEAVEN AND EARTH.

IT'S A COMPLETE STORY OF OUR

CONDITION AS PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE

COME TO THE DALI REMEMBERING

THESE WONDERFUL IMAGES OF DALI,

HIS WONDERFUL IMAGINATION, THE

WAY HE TREATS THE WORLD AS

MALLEABLE AND SUBJECTIVE AND

OPEN TO INTERPRETATION.

THE DALI IS ABSOLUTELY A

STAPLE OF THE ARTS COMMUNITY IN

ST. PETERSBURG.

AND WHEN YOU SEE PICTURES OF

ST. PETERSBURG, THEY SHOW THE

BEACHES AND THEY SHOW THE DALI.

AND WE'RE THRILLED AND HONORED

AND LUCKY TO HAVE THE DALI HERE

IN THE COMMUNITY.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE

MUSEUM, VISIT: