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Salvador Dali: an Iberian icon

Salvador Dali: A full retrospective of the Spanish master's work arrives on Australian shores

The Salvador Dalí: Liquid Desire exhibition marks the return to Australia of the artist’s 1932 painting Memory of the Child- Woman. This was the first Dalí painting ever to be seen in Australia and controversial at the time. It was included in the landmark 1939 exhibition of French and British contemporary art organised by Keith Murdoch’s Herald newspaper.
From his birth in 1904 until his death in 1989 at the age of 85, Salvador Dalí’s life spanned almost a century of dramatic social and artistic change and the variety of pieces he produced reflect the extraordinary times in which he lived.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Ted Gott, senior curator of international art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), who took great joy in putting together this exhibition. “What started out as a purely chronological method of organising Dalí’s work became thematic in the process because he cultivated many varied partnerships throughout his life, so it was fascinating to examine these partnerships closer,” he said.
“All periods of Dalí’s life are rich in their own ways, he was just so endlessly creative and inventive. People will love the classic Surrealist works from the 1930s – and we have a terrific range of paintings, drawings, illustrated books and sculptures from this period. His eight years in the United States (1940-48) were also an incredibly rich period that saw him produce some of his greatest paintings, as well as branching out to work with the film industry, with theatre and ballet,” added Gott. One highlight in the show is Lobster Telephone. The combination of these two seemingly disparate yet perfectly suited objects changed the face of sculpture forever and created one of the most memorable images in visual history.
The NGV hopes the show will attract more than 200,000 visitors and Gott thinks that won’t be a problem: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the full kaleidoscope of works by one of the most remarkable artists who has ever lived. If you think you know Salvador Dalí, think again. This exhibition shows him to be a fantastic and serious artist on every level. It also brings home the fact that there was nothing that he could not do. His animation work for Walt Disney will be a special feature of the show as well as his collaborations with fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, his work with holograms, and his stereoscopic paintings.
There really is something for everyone.”

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