While we were in Tampa/St. Pete for the GOP convention we followed up on a tip from some delegates we met and wisely toured the Salvador Dali Museum on the harbor in St. Petersburg.
This museum features the largest collection of paintings (more than 95, including some mamouth masterworks) by Dali outside of the artist's native Spain.
As if that weren't enough, the museum itself is a stunning, dramatic, captivating architectural gem.
The Dali Museum's collection includes not just the oil paintings but also many original drawings, bookworks, prints, sculpture, photos, manuscripts, and an extensive archive of documents. Founded with the works collected by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse, the museum has made significant additions to its collection.
The third floor galleries in the Tom and Mary James Wing provide a chronological gathering of Dali's paintings. The small salons along the outer walls are illuminated by special skylights and display the large paintings over which Dali labored in the last decades of his career. The Hough Family Wing provides visitors a chance to see other aspects of the artist's work, featuring his films, photographs, objects and works on paper.
The distinguished building, which opened on Jan. 11, 2011, enables the museum to protect and display the collection, to welcome the public, and to educate and promote enjoyment. In a larger sense it is a place of beauty dedicated, as is Dali's art, to understanding and transformation.
Designed by architect Yann Weymouth of HOK, the new building combines the rational with the fantastical: a simple rectangle with 18-inch thick hurricane-proof walls out of which erupts a large free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the "enigma." The "enigma," which is made up of 1062 triangular pieces of glass, stands 75 feet at its tallest point, a twenty-first century homage to the dome that adorns Dali's museum in Spain. Inside, the Dali houses another unique architectural feature - a helical staircase - recalling Dali's obsession with spirals and the double helical shape of the DNA molecule.
The Garden Outside on the waterfront, the Dali garden creates a unique environment of learning and tranquility. The Mathematical Garden allows students to experience the relationship between math and nature, and a labyrinth in the southeast corner invites exploration and well-being.
Here's how the museum is divided:
First Floor Visitors enter through the Dali Museum Store, featuring the largest collection of Dali-inspired merchandise in the world. A café offering Spanish-themed light fare has indoor and outdoor seating. The theater regularly shows a short film about the museum and is also the setting for concerts and lectures. Children and adults can take classes or participate in making art in the Classroom. The Raymond James Community Room is a space for conferences, weddings and other private events.
Second Floor This is where scholars of Dali and the Avant-garde will do research in the museum's extensive library. The administrative offices of the museum are located on this floor.
Third Floor Galleries On the third floor, visitors arrive at a landing with a view of the gardens and waterfront through the "enigma." On either side of the landing are two wings of gallery space. All 96 paintings are on display along with a selection of Dalis works of other media, including surrealist objects and a selection of Dali's prints and drawings. Work inspired by Dali is on view in the education gallery.
Don't miss this memorable artistic gem!
All photos copyright 2012 by Dan Cirucci.
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