"Salvador Dali: Visions Of Eternity" at the Arlington Museum of Art

Before the holidays were in full swing, The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend visited Arlington Museum of Art.  The exhibit on display was "Salvador Dali: Visions Of Eternity".  Now Dear Readers, The Travelling Toe must admit Salvador is not a favorite and find his Surrealist paintings confusing and sometimes hard to understand.  But this exhibit was completely different than his Surrealist paintings.  

Salvador Dali
1904-1989

In 1957 at the height of his fame, he decided to create paintings dedicated to the poem. "The Divine Comedy" written by Italian, Dante Alighieri. The Italian Government, approached Dali to complete art work in celebration of the 700th anniversary of the birth of Dante. The Government gave him 8 years to complete the installation.  However, when Italians learned that a Spanish artist had been commissioned to produce work in celebration of Dante, they were upset and eventually the Government had to withdraw the commission. However Dali pursued this endeavor. He engaged 2 woodcutters who carved 3,500 woodcuts.  After the woodcut of the illustration was completed, it was then was printed on paper.  Dali would then add watercolor paint to define the subject. He spent 5 years on the project.

Of the 3,500 woodcuts,100 of those woodcut prints were on display at the Arlington Museum of Art.

Dante wrote "The Divine Comedy" between 1308 -1320.  It contains14,233 lines with 3 canticas: Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise.

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri
1308-1320

Of course photography was not allowed in the museum, but if you are interested in seeing what these woodcut prints look like, then go to this web site as a few are on display.

RoGallery



And you can buy prints from eBay


Both The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend agreed that this was an excellent and engaging exhibit.  We had fun looking at each print, reading the text about it to interrupt the picture.  Very enjoyable!!

Arlington Museum