{"id":6905,"date":"2025-01-13T19:34:06","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T00:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/?p=6905"},"modified":"2025-01-24T11:27:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T16:27:56","slug":"dali-disruption-and-devotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/2025\/01\/13\/dali-disruption-and-devotion\/","title":{"rendered":"Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
\n<\/span>July 6\u2013December 1, 2024
\n<\/span><\/span>by Kendall Murphy<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory<\/em> (1952-54) by Salvador Dal\u00ed welcomes visitors into Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em> at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). This painting is an apt work to begin the exhibition, as it prepares the viewer to engage with Dal\u00ed\u2019s legacy and to make connections to artwork of the past. Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em> places a selection of European art from the MFA\u2019s collection in conversation with a number of his significant works to highlight how the artist drew from art history in his practice, while remaining a \u201cdisruptor\u201d of the art world.1<\/sup> The historic European works benefit from this arrangement as much as Dal\u00ed\u2019s canvases do because the exhibition fosters a current of surrealism throughout the collection, inviting the viewer to explore all of the art with an eye for the fantastic and enigmatic.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of the exhibition, visitors encounter works including The Temptation of Saint Anthony <\/em>(about 1650) (fig. 1) by David Teniers the Younger, which features ghoulish creatures such as a bat-like figure and skull-faced monster. The theme of the surreal is sparked by the fantastical creatures invented by Teniers and other earlier artists to represent themes such as temptation, lust, and terror.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Figure 1. David Teniers the Younger (1610\u20131690). Detail of The Temptation of Saint Anthony<\/em> (about 1650). Oil on copper. 23.3 x 31.3 in. (59.1 x 79.4 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art. Photograph \u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nAdditionally, the exhibition design fosters a dreamlike atmosphere. The deep purple walls are angled to create dark corners that evoke a sense of privacy or secrecy. Its thoughtful design enhances visitors\u2019 ability to search for the otherworldly in artwork outside of the surrealist canon. The exhibition introduces the viewer to surrealism through a quotation from Dal\u00ed, saying \u201cSurrealism is not a movement. It is a latent state of mind perceivable through powers of dream and nightmare.\u201d2<\/sup> If surrealism is a state of mind, then perhaps artists like Teniers could have tapped into a realm of surrealist fantasy as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the highlights of the exhibition is Francisco Goya\u2019s Los Caprichos<\/em> (1799), a series of prints that ridicules the flaws of Spanish society. Dal\u00ed\u2019s reinterpretation of Los Caprichos<\/em> hangs directly across from Goya\u2019s prints, so the viewer immediately notices the bold colors and eccentric details he adds, such as an enigmatic yellow bundle on the woman\u2019s lap in Hypnagogic Rope by Raymond Lull Attached<\/em> (1973-77). Dal\u00ed adds no embellishment to the donkey-man in Goya\u2019s De que mal morira? (Of what ill will he die?)<\/em> (1799) suggesting that Goya\u2019s surreal character fits into Dal\u00ed\u2019s bizarre world. Also, Dal\u00ed\u2019s Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s Painting the Infanta Marguerita with the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory<\/em> (1958) hangs adjacent to Infanta Maria Teresa<\/em> (1653) (fig. 2), which is from the workshop of Diego Vel\u00e1zquez. This comparison allows the viewer to experience a reference point for Dal\u00ed\u2019s work up-close and to appreciate the psychological intensity that Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s associates capture in Infanta Maria Teresa<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Figure 2. Installation view of Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. July 6, 2024 to December 1, 2024. Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery. Photograph \u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Features Salvador Dal\u00ed (1904\u20131989). Vel\u00e1zquez Painting the Infanta Marguerita with the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory<\/em> (1958). Oil on canvas. 60.5 x 36.3 in. (153.7 x 91.4 cm). Collection of The Dal\u00ed Museum, St. Petersburg, FL (USA). Gift of A. Reynolds & Eleanor Morse. With Workshop of Diego Rodr\u00edguez de Silva y Vel\u00e1zquez (1599\u20131660). Infanta Maria Theresa <\/em>(1653). Oil on canvas. 50.6 x 39.6 in. (128.6 x 100.6 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Charlotte Nichols Greene in memory of her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Nichols. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nThe exhibition\u2019s second half delves into Dal\u00ed\u2019s biography and the theme of \u201cdevotion,\u201d particularly his conversion to Catholicism later in life. Although this is an important topic to explore, the exhibition does not fully address the contradictions inherent in Dal\u00ed\u2019s shift towards a traditional faith as he continued his avant-garde explorations of sexual desire and taboo. This period also coincides with Dal\u00ed\u2019s reactionary outlook, including his support for the fascist dictator Francisco Franco.3<\/sup> His monumental painting The Ecumenical Council<\/em> (1960) (fig. 3), celebrating the coronation of Pope John XXIII, reflects this newfound conservatism. A more comprehensive exploration highlighting Dal\u00ed\u2019s conservative positions alongside this work would enhance the themes of disruption and devotion.4<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Figure 3. Installation view of Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion.<\/em> Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. July 6, 2024 to December 1, 2024. Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery. Photograph \u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Features Salvador Dal\u00ed (1904\u20131989). The Ecumenical Council<\/em> (1960). Oil on canvas. 118 x 100 in. (299.7 x 254 cm). Collection of The Dal\u00ed Museum, St. Petersburg, FL (USA). Gift of A. Reynolds & Eleanor Morse. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nThe final artworks presented deal with time and mortality, including Dal\u00ed\u2019s Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)<\/em> (1940) (fig. 4). This painting exemplifies his use of \u201cdouble images,\u201d created through his paranoiac-critical method, which he describes as a \u201cdelirium of interpretation.\u201d5<\/sup> The image label for this work concludes the exhibition by reinforcing the fact that Dal\u00ed continued to \u201cacknowledge the artists of past centuries.\u201d6<\/sup> While the exhibition highlights how Dal\u00ed mined past art for inspiration, it overlooks the vibrant community of surrealists, dadaists, and avant-garde artists he engaged with. Citing influences from artists like Yves Tanguy and Max Ernst could have enriched the narrative of Dal\u00ed\u2019s sources of inspiration.7<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Dal\u00ed\u2019s complex works remain thought-provoking, and viewing them alongside his potential inspirations is intriguing. However, the exhibition does not provide a novel understanding of Dal\u00ed, skirting the paradoxical nature of his later devotion to Catholicism. Ultimately, visitors leave with an incomplete picture of the artist, as shifting and elusive as the faces in Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Figure 4. Installation view of Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. July 6, 2024 to December 1, 2024. Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery. Photograph \u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Features Salvador Dal\u00ed (1904\u20131989). Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)<\/em> (1940). Oil on canvas. 19.6 x 25.6 in. (48.3 x 63.5 cm). Collection of The Dal\u00ed Museum, St. Petersburg, FL (USA). Gift of A. Reynolds & Eleanor Morse. With Francisco Goya y Lucientes (1746\u20131828). Time, Truth and History<\/em> (about 1797\u201399 or 1804). Oil on canvas. 16.4 x 12.9 in. (41.6 x 32.7 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs. Horatio Greenough Curtis in memory of Horatio Greenough Curtis. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

____________________<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Kendall Murphy<\/strong> is a first year master\u2019s student at Tufts University. She has held a variety of roles that allowed her to connect the public with new art, including working for the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. She is interested in site-specific contemporary art and curation.<\/span><\/p>\n

____________________<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>, introductory wall text, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>, Fantasy and Nightmare wall text, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Dawn Ades, Dali\u0301 and Surrealism<\/em> (Harper & Row, 1982), 114-17.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Ades, Dal\u00ed and Surrealism<\/em>, 114-17.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Ades, Dal\u00ed and Surrealism<\/em>, 119. Dal\u00ed characterized his paranoiac-critical method as a way to perceive many different forms within one composition by going into a state of delirium. He claimed that this \u201cirrational knowledge\u201d led him to create the shifting arrangements that produce multiple images within his artwork.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion<\/em>, Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages)<\/em> wall label,<\/em> Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Ades, Dal\u00ed and Surrealism<\/em>, 45.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston July 6\u2013December 1, 2024 by Kendall Murphy The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1952-54) by Salvador Dal\u00ed welcomes visitors into Dal\u00ed: Disruption and Devotion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). This painting is an apt work to begin the exhibition, as it prepares the viewer to engage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22289,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6905"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7128,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6905\/revisions\/7128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sequitur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}