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The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus is a painting by artist Salvador Dalí, begun in 1958 and finished in 1959.^[1] It is over 14 feet tall and over 9 feet wide (410 x 284 cm; 161.4 x 111.8 in),^[1] one in a series of large paintings Dalí did during this era.

This work is an ambitious homage to Dalí's Spain. It combines Spanish history, religion, art, and myth into a unified whole. It was commissioned for Huntington Hartford for the opening of his Museum Gallery of Modern Art in New York's 2 Columbus Circle. At this time, some Catalan historians were claiming that Columbus was actually from Catalonia, not Italy, making the discovery all the more relevant for Dalí, who was also from this region of Spain.

The eponymous painting deals with Christopher Columbus's first landing in the New World. It depicts the event metaphorically rather than aiming for historical accuracy. Columbus is depicted not as a middle-aged mariner, but as an adolescent boy in a classical robe to symbolize America as a young continent with its best years ahead of it.

Dalí, in a period of intense interest in Roman Catholic mysticism at the time, symbolically portrayed Columbus bringing Christianity and the true church to a new world as a great and holy accomplishment.

Gala Dalí, the painter's wife, whom he often depicted as the Virgin Mary, poses for the role of The Blessed Virgin (or according to some commentators Saint Helena) on the banner in the right hand of Columbus. She appears as a Saint, suggesting that she is Dalí's muse and that she is responsible for his own, "Discovery of America".

Dalí painted himself in the background as a kneeling monk holding a crucifix.^[1] Dalí's belief that Columbus was Catalan is represented by the incorporation of the old Catalan flag.

The painting contains numerous references to the works of Diego Velázquez (specifically The Surrender of Breda), a Spanish painter who had died 300 years earlier, and who influenced both Dalí's painting and his moustache. Dalí borrows the spears from that painting and places them on the right hand side of his work. Within these spears, Dalí has painted the image of a crucified Christ, which was based on a drawing by the Spanish mystic, St. John.

In the bottom center of the painting, on the beach a few steps in front of Columbus, is the bumpy and pockmarked brown sphere of a sea urchin with a curious halo-like ring around it.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

My son contemplating what is written about the painting, which I failed to capture, so had to resort to Wikipedia

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The room you see is the reflection in the glass covering the painting.

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Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at a distance of 20 meters is transformed into the portrait of Abraham Lincoln 

.Dalí painted two original versions of this painting spanning from 1974 – 1976, which are similar but not exactly the same. The first resides in the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Spain. The second resides in the permanent collection of The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I took the photo closer than 20 meters, but if you look quickly across it, you'll get the Lincoln Portrait.

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I came to this exhibit because it offered to compare some of Dali's work with Impressionists. That came later in my tour.

A Dali' A Day

 Entering into the exhibit of Dali's Museum in December 2023, I took a lot of photos. And I tried to catch most of the descriptions of the art.

From my "Art Folder"

 

Winter Sleigh Ride JOHN CLYMER  Sat. Eve Post cover 1917

work of Indianapolis based ceramicist Noelle Hoover.

Claude Monet (1840-1926) Poplars on the Epte, 1891. Oil on canvas, 92.4 x 73.7 cm. The National Gallery, London, UK. (On loan from Tate)

Art continues in my blog

 Coming soon.

Photos of my visit to the Dali' Museum in St. Petersburg.

And updates on my attempt to go back to the studio after 5 years.

Son Marty gave me a gift of visiting the Salvador Dali' Museum in Dec. 2023. That's him in the blue jacket.