Dali, Freud and Surrealism displayed 70 works from the museum’s permanent collection centering on two important influences in Dalí’s life: Sigmund Freud and the 20th century Avant-garde movement which closely based its ideas on the writings of Freud.
The exhibit spans Dalí’s entire career, beginning with his earlier work where his concern with landscape and family portraits precedes the influence of Freud and Surrealism. The exhibit gives most weight to the period of the 1930s, when Dalí was a surrealist and painting remarkable Freudian inspired “hand-painted dream photos.” Even after Dalí parts ways with the surrealists in 1938 and pursues science and religion as his subjects, surrealist imagery and Freudian symbolism are continually present, reappearing with great force in his psychologically arresting late painting – Portrait of my Dead Brother (1963).
Dali, Freud and Surrealism is curated by Joan Kropf, Dalí Museum Curator of the Collection. Sponsors of the exhibit include Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Bright House Networks, M&I Wealth Management, Pacific Wave Restaurant, and Painters on Demand.