A new exhibition entitled “The Image Disappears” is borrowed from the name of one of the paintings featured in The Art Institutes‘ first solo exhibition of Salvador Dali, revealing new insights into the iconic artist’s work. LeeAnn Trotter has the story.
A new exhibition entitled “The Image Disappears” is borrowed from the name of one of the paintings featured in The Art Institutes' first solo exhibition of Salvador Dali, revealing new insights into the iconic artist's work.
“It’s kind of a classic example of what you might call an ambiguous image or a two-way image,” says Caitlin Haskell, Gary C. and Frances Comer Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art.
At first glance you see a woman reading a letter. Take a closer look, and you will notice the profile of a man’s face.
“This is the sort of thing that absolutely delighted Dali," Haskell said. "The information is static, it doesn’t change. What’s shifting, is how you are perceiving it, and how you are thinking about it.”
“We think we know everything about Salvador Dali, (and) why would we do an exhibition on this person we already know so well? It turns out there is so much more to learn," Jennifer Cohen, curator of provenance and research, adds.
The Art Institute’s Dali exhibition features 50 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and collages, along with a rich selection of books and ephemera. The exhibition explores a series of “disappearing images” created by the artist at the height of his fame.
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Consider the painting entitled, “The Chemist Lifting with Extreme Precaution the Cuticle of a Grand Piano," which Haskell says contains a disappearing image of Ludwig II of Bavaria.
“So there’s almost a conversation taking place with what’s visible on the surface and what’s invisible underneath," she said.
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Also, questions arose when a 1936 painting, originally entitled, "Visions of Eternity," didn’t quite match the style of Daili's other 1930s works. Simultaneously, Cohen noticed one of the images in the painting appeared in a 1939 issue of Vogue Magazine.
Ultimately, experts determined the painting was part of a larger mural Dali created for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair.
“So this painting here was part of the mural that was inside the Dream of Venus Pavilion. It’s an amazing discovery,” says Haskell.
"The Image Disappears" at The Art Institute of Chicago runs through June 12th.
