Get up close and personal with the master of Surrealism at the new $36 million Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Designed by Yann Weymouth, who helped create the Louvre's famous glass pyramid along with I.M. Pei, the fantastical, kaleidoscopic structure houses the largest collection of Dalí’s work outside of his native Spain. More than 2,000 pieces - including 96 paintings, early self-portraits, graphics, sculptures, and larger-than-life canvases - collected by the artist’s friends, Eleanor and A. Reynolds Morse, provide a comprehensive portrait of the iconic artist and the influences that profoundly shaped his world view.
Weymouth designed the splashy new museum - which more than doubles the exhibition space of the original 1980s-era museum it replaces - to mirror the abstract-yet-precise quality of Dalí’s work. Buffered against the elements by a warped geodesic wave comprised of more than 1,000 glass triangles (Weymouth calls it the “glass enigma”), the main structure is a squat concrete trapezoid with 18-inch walls that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane (a major consideration when designing a new building to better protect the collection, which is now situated at Tampa Bay).
Get up close and personal with the master of Surrealism at the new $36 million Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Designed by Yann Weymouth, who helped create the Louvre's famous glass pyramid along with I.M. Pei, the fantastical, kaleidoscopic structure houses the largest collection of Dalí’s work outside of his native Spain. More than 2,000 pieces - including 96 paintings, early self-portraits, graphics, sculptures, and larger-than-life canvases - collected by the artist’s friends, Eleanor and A. Reynolds Morse, provide a comprehensive portrait of the iconic artist and the influences that profoundly shaped his world view. Weymouth designed the splashy new museum - which more than doubles the exhibition space of the original 1980s-era museum it replaces - to mirror the abstract-yet-precise quality of Dalí’s work. Buffered against the elements by a warped geodesic wave comprised of more than 1,000 glass triangles (Weymouth calls it the “glass enigma”), the main structure is a squat concrete trapezoid with 18-inch walls that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane (a major consideration when designing a new building to better protect the collection, which is now situated at Tampa Bay).
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