Dalí/Duchamp

Interesting exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the friendship between Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp.

By the end of their careers these two artists seemed to by doing very different work to each other but the show traced their friendship and how they often examined similar themes in their work. They seem to have shared a similar sense of humour laced with scepticism and a shared interest in topics such as optics and language.

The first room was stunning with examples of their early work including a lovely hang of portraits by both artists of their fathers. There was also an almost impressionistic picture by Dali. The next room had a huge display cabinet in the middle with examples of their sculptural work shown without labels but with a handout to identify the works. It made use of mirrors to give a surreal feel to the display but it did cause one punter (me) to walk into a reflection on themselves!

I became less engaged in the later rooms. They included Duchamp’s “Bride Stripped Bare …”. which I’ve seen a few times now, and I know it’s a seminal work of modern art, but I’m afraid I just don’t understand it! I’ll keep trying but I get half way through the description and turn off! The wonderful Dali Crucifixion was included which seems to fall into the Spanish tradition of large, stark depictions of the scene against dark backgrounds.

Closed on 3 January 2018.

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