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: