I'm reminded of the first time I saw Dali's magnificent "Corpus Hypercubus" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. To the left of it was, as I recall, some abstract painting, and to its right a portrait by Picasso.
I watched the watchers that day: the crowds that gathered in that particular corner of the museum. And while they gave a nod to the abstract-expressionist work, and a look at the Picasso oil, it was Dali's "Crucifixion" that galvanized their attention. In fact, most simply couldn't take their eyes off of it!
Fast-forward to Dec. 5, 2014, when my wife and I walked through the Dali/Picasso show in St. Pete.
The museum did a wonderful, unprecedented job of bringing these two Spanish titans of 20th century art together -- making convincing parallels and contrasts between them.
But for me, Picasso simply couldn't get more than a few seconds' look, while the corresponding Dali works jumped off the walls. In a word, they're simply more interesting. At least to me. Not only because of Dali's impressive technique, although that has always intrigued me.
More importantly, it's how Dali took whatever subject it may have been and translated it into a surrealist lexicon that twisted and bent all sense of normalcy and expectations -- creating a brand new way to see and imagine. One could argue that Picasso did that, too. But, for my money, not nearly as convincingly as Dali.
Dali just has more pull!
Here are Dali's and Picasso's versions of the Infanta, a subject their mutually favorite artist -- Velasquez -- legendarily portrayed:
(Images used for journalistic purposes only under Fair Use; the best places to see Salvador Dali works are the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A. and the Teatru-Museu Dali in Figueres, Spain.)
