Coffee with a Curator
May 7 @ 10:30am – 11:30am
Dalí and Fairy Tales
Join us for this month’s installment of our Coffee with a Curator series, where Museum staff or invited guests speak on a range of Salvador Dalí-inspired topics.
This month will feature a fantastical presentation by Professor Margrit V. Zinggeler’s as we explore the connection between literary fairy tales, art and the art of Salvador Dalí.
Professor Zinggeler will introduce the folk and fairy tales collected by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, first published in Germany in 1812 and the stories’ evolution to be eventually included in the UNESCO World Heritage Texts in 2005. Over the brothers’ lifetime seven editions eventually containing 200 tales were published. The tales were translated into over 160 languages. Walt Disney popularized many Grimm fairy tales in the U.S., beginning with his films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1959). Ever since, Grimms’ fairy tales have influenced every genre of literature, the arts and the entertainment industry.
A brief discussion on the definition of literary fairy tales—specifically the Grimms’ fairy tales—will lead to a focus on art particularly Dalí’s art. Dalí illustrated Japanese fairy tales, the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Lewis Carroll as well as many classic novels and biblical stories. But did Dalí know the Grimms’ fairy tales? Exploring a selection of Dalí’s artworks invites a fairy tale interpretation leading to a fantastic conclusion.
Location: The Dalí Museum’s Will Raymund Theater (registration required) or live on YouTube (link below).
This event is free with limited capacity. An event ticket is required for entry.
Gallery access is not included.
To watch the live stream from home, click below at the time of the program:
Margrit V. Zinggeler
Margrit V. Zinggeler is Professor Emerita of Eastern Michigan University. She is a native of German-speaking Switzerland, studied at Zurich University, and eventually moved with her family to the U.S. She earned her PhD in German Literature at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
She used the brothers Grimm fairy tales as tools to teach German language courses based on the books she wrote: German Grammar Through the Magic of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (2007) and PhonoGrimm: German Phonetics Through the Magic of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (2014). She additionally specialized in Swiss Studies, German Culture and Civilization, and German for Professional Purposes. She published five books, numerous articles, and most recently also short stories and poems. She is the recipient of several awards, most noteworthy a research award by the Swiss National Science Foundation to conduct research for her book Swiss Maid: The Untold Story of Women’s Contributions to Switzerland’s Success (2017).
She is the initiator of the non-profit Brothers Grimm Society of North America which was incorporated in Florida in 2021. She currently serves as the president of the organization.
