Friday, January 25, 2013

Dali

Days on cruise: 258

Salvador Dali was brilliant, odd and a creative genius. It seems even people who don’t love his work find it fascinating, and we both fall into that camp. His brain was wired differently than most!

Today we spent several hours at St. Petersburg’s Dali Museum which owns the largest collection of Dali paintings anywhere in the world outside of Spain. This collection was donated by private collectors Reynolds and Eleanor Morse and includes 96 paintings spanning Dali’s entire career from 1904-1989.

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The museum is a beautiful structure, a work of art in itself, and only opened in January 2011.

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Dali was fascinated by science and incorporated elements and themes from science in many of his artworks. This staircase was designed to resemble the double-helix of a DNA strand, a representation he sometimes used in his paintings.

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The amazing painting below appears to be one subject when viewed close at hand, but becomes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln when viewed from 60+ feet away. Really! Many of Dali’s paintings contain pictures within pictures.

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Hours spent in this museum made us feel insufficiently “cultured” in the world of art.

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The photo above was taken from the third floor atrium looking towards the St. Petersburg boat harbor. This photo is not retouched. Bob is happy with the outcome!

St. Petersburg is a gorgeous city, and we’re loving our time here. We had planned to stay only 2 nights, but have more things we’re interested in doing so have signed up for a third night. Who knows when we’ll really leave?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love how the days unfold on the Loop? Take your time, enjoy the adventure to its' fullest. None of us know how long our adventures here on Earth will be.