Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929

The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
Nov. 23, 2019, through April 9, 2020

Paris, a timeless city both intellectual and sensuous, was vibrating with the spirit of liberation in 1929. Among those pulsing with the energy and excitement of the era were groundbreaking artists, galvanized to forge vital new creative paths with cultural and political meaning. Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929, profiles the work, friendship and clashes of more than 20 avant-garde artists of the era, from the painters Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, to sculptors Hans Arp and Alexander Calder, to filmmakers Germaine Dulac and Luis Buñuel. Man Ray, the great American artist, and perhaps the first paparazzo, made splendid photo portraits of these and other Surrealists, turning them into international celebrities.

            “The year 1929 in Paris was one of those rare moments when the artists of the time knew they were reshaping the world,” said Dr. Hank Hine, executive director of The Dalí. “Are we in such a time again? The Dalí Museum invites you to consider this, and to discover the provocative conversations, dreams and friendships among a deeply experimental and influential group of artists who called Paris their creative home.”

            Designed as an inspiring stroll through the streets of Paris, the exhibition evokes concepts of Dream, Desire, Freedom, Love and Revolution, asking visitors to consider some of the thought-provoking questions at the heart of the Surrealist enterprise: Is art obsolete? Are dreams or reality more important to portray? Would painting survive the new experiments with photography, film and collage?

            Among the highlights of Midnight in Paris are the vivid films of four surrealists, Germaine Dulac, Luis Bunuel, Man Ray and Gerhard Richter. The Museum has installed a period theater in the galleries to project its new film shot in St. Petersburg imagining an emotional conversation between Gala Dalí, Dalí’s wife, and André Breton, Surrealism’s founder, as they vie for control of the movement.  

            Organized by The Dalí Museum and the Centre Pompidou, the exhibition includes approximately 65 works in a variety of media drawn largely from the collection of the Musée national d’art moderne in Paris. The exhibition is curated by Dr. William Jeffett, chief curator of special exhibitions at The Dalí Museum, and Didier Ottinger, deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne at the Centre Pompidou with the collaboration of Marie Sarré.

           Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929, will be on view Nov. 23, 2019, through April 9, 2020, at The Dalí Museum, the exhibition’s exclusive North American venue.

About The Dalí Museum

            The Dalí Museum, located in the heart of picturesque downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, is home to an unparalleled collection of over 2,400 Salvador Dalí works, including nearly 300 oil paintings, watercolors and drawings, as well as more than 2,100 prints, photographs, posters, textiles, sculptures and objets d’art. The Museum’s nonprofit mission, to care for and share its collection locally and internationally, is grounded by a commitment to education and sustained by a culture of philanthropy.

            The Dalí is recognized internationally by the Michelin Guide with a three-star rating; has been deemed “one of the top buildings to see in your lifetime” by AOL Travel News; and named one of the 10 most interesting museums in the world by Architectural Digest. The building itself is a work of art, with a geodesic glass bubble nicknamed The Enigma, which features 1,062 triangular glass panels, a fitting tribute to Salvador Dalí’s legacy of innovation and transformation. Explore The Dalí anytime with the free Dalí Museum App, available on Google Play and in the App Store. The Dalí Museum is located at One Dalí Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701.

             For more information visit TheDali.org.

        

          

Joan Miró
(Barcelona, 1893 – Palma di Mallorca, 1983)
Peinture (Painting)
1930
Inv. AM 2853 P
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de creation industrielle
Donated by Mr. Pierre Loeb, 1949
© Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 2019

 

René Magritte
(Lessines, 1889 – Bruxelles,1967)
Le modèle rouge (The Red Model)
[1935]
Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard
Inv. AM 1975-216
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de creation industrielle
Purchase, 1995
Photo credit : © Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
© 2019 C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Max Ernst

Max Ernst (Brühl, 1891 – Paris, 1976)
Chimère (Chimera)
[1928]
Oil on canvas
Inv. AM 1983-47
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de creation industrielle
Purchase, 1983
Photo credit : © Adam Rzepka - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
© 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Salvador Dalí
(Figueras, 1904 – 1989)
Dormeuse, cheval, lion invisibles (Invisible Sleeping Woman, Horse, Lion)
[1930]
Oil on canvas
Inv. AM 1993-26
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de creation industrielle
Donated by the Association Bourdon
Photo credit : © Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
©Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, (ARS), 2019

 

Brassaï (Gyula Halász)
(Brașov, 1899 – Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1984)
Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)
c.1930-32
Gelatin-silver print
Inv. AM 1997-207
Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de creation industrielle
Purchase, 1997
Photo credit : © Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
© Estate Brassaï - RMN-Grand Palais