Dali

Christ of St John of the Cross - Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow

Dali and Man Ray

La Gare de Perpignan - Museen Ludwig, Koln

Above are the only two Salvador Dali paintings I've ever seen and a random photo that I found on the internet. The first painting is here in the Kelvingrove Art Museum, which I visited yesterday. The Kelvingrove is one of those museums that has everything - dinosaur bones, tools and artifacts from ancient Scandinavian invaders of Scotland, natural history exhibits and works from art masters like Bruegel, Rodin, Rembrandt and Dali. It even has an organ (that was played yesterday when I visited) and a WWII plane hanging from the ceiling.

The painting has quite an interesting history behind it. It was bought by the Kelvingrove in 1952 for £8,200, a price that was considered quite high at the time. Glasgow School of Art students protested the purchase, citing that the museum should instead use the money to provide exhibition space for students. I'm sure that they've since changed their minds about the purchase, its now carefully protected behind glass and probably worth millions.

In 1962 the painting was attacked with a knife by a mentally disturbed museum visitor. It has luckily been so well restored that I couldn't even tell that it was damaged when I saw it. But the thing that I like best about the entire thing is the strange perspective. Dali is infamous for his dreamlike compositions, and both paintings that I've seen give me the impression that I'm floating. The Kelvingrove placed the piece at the end of a really long arched corridor, so your first impression of the painting is from a distance of 60 meters. As you approach, you get sucked into it. Its great.

The second Dali was the one that I saw in Cologne, and it is much more spectacular in person. The painting is huge - I can't find the dimensions online but its probably 10 feet long and 8 high. I don't know as much about this one, but I think it speaks for itself. Dali is weird.