Influence, Rivalry and Obsession: Dalí and Picasso

Dalí Museum Curator and Education Coordinator Craig Petersburg presented his lecture, “Picasso/Dalí, Dalí/Picasso: A Story of Influence, Rivalry, Obsession,” at the St. Petersburg Public Library Saturday, November 22, to introduce the public to the Dalí Museum’s current exhibit.

For the first time, according to Petersburg, the two artists are being compared side-by-side. The story of Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, as presented by the Dalí Museum, traces the artists’ similarities and differences from their upbringing to their mastery of art and breaking all its rules.

Both Spaniards, Dalí and Picasso were passionate, temperamental geniuses and pioneers of diverging artistic styles, Surrealism and Cubism. Over two decades apart, they were of different generations, but knew of each other and eventually met, developing a complicated relationship.

By the time Dalí started out as an artist, Picasso was a well-established, influential artist who had conquered Paris. Dalí admired Picasso, says Petersburg, before rebelling, stepping away from classic forms of painting as well as from Cubism, and developing his own style to conquer Paris in his own manner.

The Picasso/Dalí exhibit was organized by the Dalí Museum and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona with the collaboration of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí and is supported by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The show at the Dalí Museum, says Petersburg, “is truly remarkable” and will last through February 16.

Dalí Museum Curator and Education Coordinator Craig Petersburg discussed the relationship between Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, two artistic geniuses compared side-by-side for the first time at the Dalí Museum.