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University Archives & Special Collections Exhibits

Dalí Interprets


Salvador Dalí  (1904 – 1989) is best known for his contributions to Surrealist art, which favors the subconscious as a source for meaningful imagery. Dalí Interprets features works created by the famed surrealist from two collections: Currier & Ives as Interpreted by Salvador Dali, which is part of FGCU Library’s permanent collection, and Changes in Great Masterpieces, on loan from The Dalí Museum.

Currier & Ives as Interpreted by Salvador Dalí was inspired by popular images from the 19th-century American firm, Currier & Ives, whose printmaking epitomized American nostalgia. The Currier and Ives realism is in sharp contrast to the vivid, somewhat disturbing, imagery depicted by Dalí. Completed in 1971, the six lithographs feature a small facsimile of the Currier & Ives original surrounded by Dalí’s amplified interpretation.

Changes in Great Masterpieces, completed in 1974, is a suite of prints created as an homage to such legendary artists as Raphael, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Velasquez. Also coupled with facsimiles of the original work, Dalí recreates each individual masterpiece with his own playful changes using tempera and remarque. While Dalí reinterprets the revered masters’ work, his changes are more subtle than the Currier & Ives suite. Notably, Dalí included his own famed Persistence of Memory in the suite.

Changes in Great Masterpieces is the perfect complement to the Currier & Ives as Interpreted by Salvador Dali works. We extend our gratitude to The Dalí Museum and are pleased to bring together some of the collected works of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists.