Salvador Dalí is one of the greatest sons of Spain, but he’s also celebrated for his passion for the United States. His time in America shaped a new stage of his career and launched him to global stardom. A new exhibit at The Dalí Museum in St. Pete takes a deep dive into the world – and the country – that inspired a Surrealist icon.
Dalí in America opened on May 9, an exhibition exploring how Salvador Dalí’s experience in the United States reshaped his artistic vision and sparked new ideas that resonated across American art and culture, presented during the 250-year anniversary of the nation’s founding. Access to the fascinating new exhibition is included with museum tickets, and the experience will remain at the museum until October.
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Dalí’s celebrity status had already started to grow in the States, beginning with his first visit in 1934 as an ambassador for Surrealism. It was during World War II that the artist sought refuge in America, and those years would serve to change not only his creative trajectory but that of the entire world of modern art.
That period launched Dalí’s stardom to previously unimaginable heights, as he expanded his creative reach into film, advertising and design, all while forging lasting relationships with key patrons, including A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse, the future founders of The Dalí Museum. During this period he worked with not only his fellow artists, but filmmakers such as Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock.
Collection of The Dalí Museum Library & Archives
A daring presence in the postwar New York art world, Dalí engaged with Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Op Art and the Happenings of the 1960s. Throughout, Dalí remained a fixture of American media fascination, captivating the nation with his wit, eccentricity and vision.
Just as America can be seen in Dalí’s works (literally, in the case of Abraham Lincoln), so too can Dalí’s influence be found in 20th-century Hollywood and Madison Avenue.
Dalí in America explores this period through paintings, drawings, photographs and ephemeral materials from The Dalí Museum’s Collection and its Library and Archives. Together, it creates an artistic celebration befitting the country’s 250th birthday and one of the great international artists helped shape its modern culture.
The exhibition is a visual journey through Dalí’s discovery of what he called a “New World” filled with possibility, reflecting his vision of our country as a land of reinvention.
