Ancient Museum Store

During his years in America Dal’ did not limit his activities solely to painting. He designed advertisements, wrote an autobiography, worked on cinema and designed for theatre and theatre and ballet productions. In 1939 he wrote the scenario and designed the scenery and costumes for the ballet Bacchanale, followed by Labyrinth, a ballet based on the myth of Theseus and Ariade. Dal’ was inspired by Wagner's famous opera Tristan und Isolde and wrote Mad Tristan which was premiered on 15 December 1944 and performed by the International Ballet, choreographed by Leonide Massine. This ballet was followed by Sentimental Colloquy, Cafe de Chinitas, The Three-Cornered Hat, and finally the ballet Gala, dedicated to his wife.

ABOUT THE ART PERIOD: Dali sublimated his life in his art of painting. Relying on great craftsmanship, acquired in all sorts of art experiments, he lifted surrealism, in an inimitable self-willed manner, to exceptional heights. He photographed, as it were, associatively what was enacted in his mind. Incited by, at the time, new psychological insights he tried to fix his subconscious with images, and to visualize his dreams in all their inscrutable symbolism. It was for this purpose that he developed his famous "paranoid-critical" method. To us, one dimensional mortal souls, only the paintings and other expressions remain as fascinating witnesses to a literally unbelievably intense and active life. Perhaps we are so drawn to them because not only do they allow us to have a look inside Dali’s subconscious, but they also are a mirror reflecting our own souls.