“The artwork should impress you without touching you,” said the legendary artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Surrealism icon whose graphic works displayed in five decades, can be seen these days in the House of Universal Art of the National Museum of Fine Arts.
The series 1971 Memories of Surrealism, including the selection, the title of the exhibition organized by Alex Rosenberg, president of Salvador Dalí Research Center and friend of the artist, who brought to Havana part of his personal collection and from other private collectors.
Fantastic Voyage, with only one work dated 1965; Dalí plays a Currier and Ives, 1971; The twelve tribes of Israel, 1973; The Divine Comedy, 1960; and Los Cantos de Maldoror, 1934, are the other series that will be on display until the end of October this year.
In January, we marked a quarter century of the death of the Catalan genius who cultivated fulfilled multiple artistic fields: Painting, jewelry, design, sculpture, film, theater and engraving. Although the latter term is less known in his creation, there are notable examples such as ninety-five lithographs today the Cuban public can enjoy.
During the inauguration they had an allegorical performance on the legacy of the celebrated artist in charge of the Retazos Company and presented by Carole and Alex Rosenberg.
Alex told how he met the maestro and shared several memories of their friendship. He spoke of some adventures of their work together, for it was he who financed some folders of prints he brought to Havana.
“Dalí was an exceptional person, a jester against boredom. His bizarre behavior brought him benefits, advertising and reputation to an audience that he considers inferior, but that supplied him all the necessary to live as a member of an alleged royalty. He wasn’t crazy, as many believed, and when something or someone were interesting for him, his behavior became serious, consistent and even his English improved, “said the collector.
The New York expert explained the setbacks one of the collections now exhibited went through before its completion, and confessed how the disaster that concluded in a successful portfolio of engravings with three different printing processes.
The twelve tribes of Israel, another series included, was done in record time by the versatile creator, who said about it: “It took me thirty years to create this series. What took me only five days was to log my knowledge. ”
His unmistakable symbols, recurring in his iconography: eggs, grasshoppers, ants, soft watches can be seen on display. Butterflies, wings, flowers and quirky self-portraits are also present, to help us know a little more on the creations by the famous character.
Multiple exhibited prints are an unavoidable invitation to try to decipher the clues what was offered to us by the rich imagination of an artist who went around the world defending his exotic philosophy of life, with its hallucinatory look and flamboyant mustache.
