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Nostalgia pointing forward
Mar. 17th, 2004 09:30 amEarly in college, I had this thing for Salvador Dali. Surrealism appealed to my veering outlook on life, and prints of his popular paintings would occasionally peel themselves from my cinder-block dorm room walls.
Later in college, it became almost cliche -- every other dorm room on campus had a print of a melting clock or a burning giraffe. I moved on to other artists and rarely thought of Dali.
St Petersburg has a Dali museum. I've told myself I'd visit someday, but natives of any city rarely visit the tourist attractions, and I guess I had already accustomed myself to being a native. I mentioned it to my visiting friend this weekend, and we decided to check it out.
This is a fantastic museum. Over a hundred works of art, plus items from the man himself, such as birth certificates and other papers from his life. The guides pointed out the process of his art and hidden images and meanings -- sometimes things that can only be experienced when standing in front of a 12'x10' canvas.
There were paintings there of which I had prints in college, along with images I had never seen. I became deeply charmed and awed.
Later in college, it became almost cliche -- every other dorm room on campus had a print of a melting clock or a burning giraffe. I moved on to other artists and rarely thought of Dali.
St Petersburg has a Dali museum. I've told myself I'd visit someday, but natives of any city rarely visit the tourist attractions, and I guess I had already accustomed myself to being a native. I mentioned it to my visiting friend this weekend, and we decided to check it out.
This is a fantastic museum. Over a hundred works of art, plus items from the man himself, such as birth certificates and other papers from his life. The guides pointed out the process of his art and hidden images and meanings -- sometimes things that can only be experienced when standing in front of a 12'x10' canvas.
There were paintings there of which I had prints in college, along with images I had never seen. I became deeply charmed and awed.
