Known for his imaginative dreamscapes filled with irrational juxtapositions and erotic subjects, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí’s (1904-1989) reputation as an illustrator is a story that often goes untold. This exhibition showcases Dalí’s most ambitious illustrated series: his colored wood engravings of the Divine Comedy, an epic poem by the medieval Florentine writer Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). Written in 1320, this timeless text recounts Dante’s journey through the Christian otherworldly realms: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
Dalí’s Divine Comedy displays selected prints from this series that highlight the artist’s distinctive Surrealist interpretation of each realm and how his images interact with Dante’s text.
Focus installation
Admission is FREE
Dali's Divine Comedy is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
ALL IMAGES: © 2020 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Copyright protected images are being provided in reference to the Dallas Museum of Art exhibition, Dali’s Divine Comedy, only (August 14, 2020 to May 16, 2021). Salvador Dalí, Hell: Departure for the Great Journey (Canto 1), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.1; Salvador Dalí, Hell: The Men who Devour each Other (Canto 30), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.30; Salvador Dalí, Purgatory: The Fallen Angel (Canto 1), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.35; Salvador Dalí, Purgatory: Leaving the Terrace of Anger (Canto 17), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.51; Salvador Dalí, Purgatory: Avarice and Prodigality (Canto 20), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.54; Salvador Dalí, Paradise: Opposition (Canto 11), c. 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.78