Day Trip To The Dali Museum

Englewood is close to more than just great beaches. We are also close to world-class cultural attractions. One of these is the Dali Museum in St Petersburg, location of our most recent day trip. Only a little more than an hour away by car on the St. Petersburg bayfront, the museum is light years away in content and vibe. Melting clocks, curling mustachios, an abundance of ants, surrealistic images from bizarre dreams, history, Catholicism, war,  peace, math and physics - all come together in Dali’s work.

The Dali Museum contains over 2000 works by the Spanish painter Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989), 96 of which are oil paintings. The other half of his work is housed in a museum in his native Spain. The St. Pete’s collection was gathered over 40 years by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse, from Cleveland, OH, admirers and personal friends of Dali and his wife Gala. In 1982 the city of St. Petersburg acquired the collection, and recently moved it to its new and present location in 2011. The building is a marvel – a monolithic hurricane-proof stone cube intersected with zigzag geodesic glass windows, set on St. Petersburg bay. Inside you look up to three stories bisected by a helical staircase – the curving double helix of the DNA molecule, an obsession of Dali’s.

We started our tour going straight to the main gallery on the third floor where we joined a group tour guided by a docent. This proved a good idea because Dali paints in a style called surrealism which depicts the very strange world of the subconscious mind. Landscapes are lifted from dreams. There are double images and masterful illusions. There is a lot of history - personal and world related. A painting up close looks to be one thing – standing back from a distance, it is the face of Abraham Lincoln, or Dali’s brother, or something other. His soul mate and wife Gala finds her way into almost all his paintings. So do ants. Audio-visual i-pods are available that let you move at your own pace, view a painting, and hear a description.

Dali, we learned, was fascinated with mathematics and physics, as well as psychology and the work of Sigmund Freud, particularly his writings about dreams. He admired the classic painters with their mastery of realism, and especially the Spanish painter Velasquez, whose thin Seranata he adopted and made his signature. He studied history, he agonized over war, he suffered as a human. His relationship with his family was troubled and complex. He lived his life flamboyantly and delighted in being shocking.

We lunched in the museum restaurant the “Café Gala” which in keeping with the museum was Spanish themed and excellent. Named after Dali’s wife it offers authentic Spanish cuisine instead of the usual dull museum fare.  We enjoyed a robust chilled Gazpacho soup and “Seranata” sandwich of pressed pork and ham. People nearby were dining on tapas and which looked exotic and tasty. Beer and wine available. The restaurant overlooks a garden, where we visited after lunch and found Dali-esque touches hidden in the greenery: a giant mustachio, a labyrinth, strange symbols in stone pavers. In the background the bay.

After lunch we returned to the third floor to the special exhibits gallery showing the photography of Horst P. Horst, a contemporary of Dali. His imposing black and white photographs looked familiar. Working for Conde Nast, he produced many Vogue covers and picture features in House and Garden. Also portraits of Greta Garbo, Jacky Kennedy and the rich and famous of his day. We concluded our museum visit resting our feet and watching a movie of Horst’s fascinating jet set life. 

At 5pm the museum closed. We left by way of the well-endowed gift shop. I wished I had brought money to get some of the unique items and jewelry, but settled for a coffee mug with the famous melting clock. It was time to go home. We had enjoyed a full rich day.

I recommend the Dali Museum for all ages and interests. Families with children will find child friendly activities, even an art room for kids to create their own surreal inspired creations. For adults there is a Euro vibe about the museum that is very energizing. The power of Dali’s enormous imagination is everywhere - a wonderful thing for both children and adults to encounter and be inspired. Finally there was an attitude of extreme hospitality, helpfulness and friendliness of all staff that we encountered. Dali would approve.