The God of the Bay of Roses (Primary Title)

Salvador Dalí, Spanish, 1904 - 1989 (Artist)

1944
Spanish
Oil on canvas
United States,California
Unframed: 22 1/8 × 30 3/16 in. (56.2 × 76.68 cm)
Framed: 33 3/4 × 43 in. (85.73 × 109.22 cm)
93.111

In the late 1920s, Dalí began to create Surrealistic images he likened to “hand-painted dream photographs.” By presenting the disturbing visions of his unconscious in brilliant detail, he hoped to lend credibility to the irrational realm of fears and fantasies.

The God of the Bay of Roses pays homage to the artist’s Russian-born wife and muse, Gala, whose portrait appears on the bifurcated sculpture’s pedestal, encircled by a bevy of revelers. Like the most hypnotic of Dalí’s work,it suggests a portal into another world. The painting dates from the couple’s residency on the West Coast, one year before the artist worked with film director Alfred Hitchcock on the famous nightmare sequence in Spellbound.

Signed, lower right: "Salvador Dali / 1944"
Gift of the Estate of Hildegarde Graham van Roijen
“Early 20th-Century European Art,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, ongoing

"Dali Up Close," Winnipeg Art Gallery, September 27, 2014 - February 16, 2015

“Goya, Dali, Warhol: Masterpieces from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,” Statewide Exhibition, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Norfolk, Jan. 7-March 30, 2011; William King Regional Art Center, Abington, March 31-July 13, 2011; Museum of Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, July 14-Oct. 5, 2011; Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College, Oct. 6-Dec. 16, 2011; Radford University, Jan. 6-March 11, 2012

“LOOK HERE: Mystery,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, Oct. 6-Dec. 30, 2007

“Dalis from North American Collections,” Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, FL, May 24-Sept. 16, 1996

“New Paintings by Salvador Dali,” Bignou Gallery, New York City, Nov. 25, 1947-Jan. 3, 1948
©artist or artist’s estate

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