Salvador Dalì and “Il Sogno del classico”: an exhbition based on a mixture of surrealism, with the concept of “dreams” in the foreground, and classicism. The name given to the exhibiton explain it very well, but living it it’s completely different.
An exhibition, organized by Fondazione Palazzo Blu in collaboration with Fundación Gala – Salavador Dalì and MondoMostre, based on the works in which Dalì drew inspiration from the great Masters of Renaissance and from Italian artistic tradition. Over 150 works, carefully selected, that tell about the relationship between the Catalan artist’s genius and the concept of “classic”.
“Il Sogno del classico”: Salvador Dalì and The Divine Comedy
A genius that relies on ideas and illustrations of some other geniuses of the past: this may be the gateway. In this exhbition Italy is always at the center of everything, from the very beginning. We start with four paintings (La Trinità, Sant’Elena Port Lligat, Paesaggio di Port Lligat e Angelo di Port Lligat) in which we can see Dalì’s tansformation.
A turning point that willl set him to “Manifesto Mistico”, the document which states guidelines of his new art production. Religion that binds clearly to the classic artist that he loved. The woodcuts that show The Divine Comedy, masterpieces commissioned by the Italian Ministry of Public Education but never published on charges of pornography, are the result of this transformation. These are works that modify, in accordance with his ideas, the figures present in this journey between Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
Benvenuto Cellini and Michelangelo Buonarroti: Italian art affects the Catalan genius
Then the exhibition shall move to watercolors and pictorial of “The Autobiography of Benevenuto Cellini” and the works of another genius lived centuries ago, namely Michelangelo Buonarroti. In particular Dalì decided to reinterpret, by including them in a surrealistic background, the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
“La Pietà vaticana” and “Tomba di Lorenzo de’ Medici duca di Urbino” are, for example, two works that the artist represents on canvas using abstract colors and. These works remind us quantum mysticism, a field of study that has been of significant concern to Dalì in his later years.
Genius and wildness, as Dalì is defined. We think that it’s a too simplistic label for describing his personality and his talent. In this exhibition there’s not much space for Dali’s visionary and provocative side: it’s given much greater freedom to the exploration of the Classic style. A kind of figurative foothold in the past from which Salvador Dalì extrapolated technique and style and then build a different artistic future.
