The Hellish Tragedy of Dali Exhibition
By Yaroslava Chaltseva and Artyom Denisov
Lights, camera, and… fiasco!
Fasten your seat belts and be ready for an unforgettable ride.
Fasten your seat belts and be ready for an unforgettable ride.
On January 28th, 2020, the doors of Moscow Central Exhibition Hall opened for crowds eager to cast a glance on the exemplary works of Surrealism.
Never before in Russia has there been an exhibition of Salvador Dali of such a large scale. Organized by the Link of Times Foundation and the Fabergé Museum in partnership with the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation (Figueres) and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), it puts together over 180 works, all of which contributed to Dalí's global fame and reveal his inimitable style.
Never before in Russia has there been an exhibition of Salvador Dali of such a large scale. Organized by the Link of Times Foundation and the Fabergé Museum in partnership with the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation (Figueres) and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), it puts together over 180 works, all of which contributed to Dalí's global fame and reveal his inimitable style.
There are paintings you've never seen, never have heard of – the pictures to "The Divine Comedy", for example, watercolors juxtaposed to create a new image of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Some of them will remind you of childish scrawls, and others will leave you breathless.
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However, strolling down the labyrinth of canvas and rows of paper, one can notice the enormous number of people (or be swallowed up by it). It took the organizers more than a month to realize that the spacious halls of MCEH [Manege Central Exhibition Hall] are not that endless. Starting March 2nd there are time slots on tickets – like in normal, well-organized museums. Buying an e-ticket is always a good move, which saves you a couple of hours in a queue and thousands of nerve cells. But don't be so cheery! The site of the exhibition, just like plenty of Dali's works, has cracks – so sometimes, because of the overload, it just doesn't work.
Make sure you have a printout or screenshot as soon as you've bought a ticket.
Make sure you have a printout or screenshot as soon as you've bought a ticket.
In these circumstances, how can you enjoy the "Maximum Speed of Raphael's Madonna", or "Average Pagan landscape", or "Bal Onirique", or every third painting, when the backlighting is twinkling? How should your already-tired-of-this-place eyes read tiny black letters on the dark red walls in the dim light? Or how, being an elderly person, should you watch either a movie or a cartoon standing on your feet for half an hour when all (two) benches are already occupied?
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Despite the fact that an exhibition has a wide range of different problems, glass is always half-full. In Dali's case, the glass is half-full, too. And, as a surrealist, Dali would rather see pancreatic juice than water in his glass.
However, it hasn't always been so. Breaking news: visitors can meet Dali as an impressionist. Small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, an open composition, an emphasis on an accurate depiction of light – it's all about Dali's first impressionist paintings. The peaceful landscapes of Dali-impressionist create a surprising contrast with his riotous and irresistible surrealism.
However, it hasn't always been so. Breaking news: visitors can meet Dali as an impressionist. Small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, an open composition, an emphasis on an accurate depiction of light – it's all about Dali's first impressionist paintings. The peaceful landscapes of Dali-impressionist create a surprising contrast with his riotous and irresistible surrealism.
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Surrealism quickly takes all the space at the exhibition. This is a great merit of the organizers. They created a conceptual change of periods in the works of Dali, where in the centre of the exhibition visitors can find "Nuclear Mysticism". It's not just another period. It's a turning point for the artist. He tries to show the relationships between quantum physics and the conscious mind. Dali finds an amazing and frightening analogy: human consciousness decomposes like molecules and atoms in a nuclear bomb. "Dematerialization Near the Nose of Nero" and "Maximum Speed of Rafael's Madonna" are Dali's reflection results.
The icing on the cake is the cinema pavilion with "Andalusian Dog", a silent surrealistic short film written and produced by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel, and "Destino", an animated short film released in 2003. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali and its production began in 1945. It's a good reminder that Dali was an all-round creator. One more good reminder: "Andalusian Dog" has at least one shocking scene, so don't watch it if you're impressionable. In this case, enjoy the impressionist period of Dali once again.
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