Tuesday, 12. April 2022
“I could have chosen De Chirico or Ernst, but no one was as imaginative and extravagant as Dalíˮ.
Alfred Hitchcock
This Wednesday 13 April 2022 the exhibition “SPELLBOUND – Scenography of a Dream” will be inaugurated at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta located in the historic center of Naples.
The exhibition is presented by Dalì Universe and curated by Mr. Beniamino Levi, President of Dalì Universe, in collaboration with Phantasya Communication directed by Roberto Pantè.
Approximately sixty authentic works by Salvador Dalí, including sculptures of different sizes, illustrations, glass works, furnishings and the Universal Tarot, will be exhibited in the internal spaces of the basilica church dedicated to the Virgin which overlooks Piazzetta Pietrasanta.
This is an exhibition that will offer the opportunity to admire eleven museum sculptures by Salvador Dalí, a selection of small museum sculptures and surrealist furniture, and the monumental sculpture Persistence of Memory.
Among the works that are part of the Surrealist Furniture, the public will be able to admire the Mae West Sofa, the result of the collaboration between Dalí and the English poet and collector Edward James. While, among the Daum Works, one of the most interesting collections in the world of colored glass sculptures, born from the artistic collaboration between Dalí and the prestigious French glassmaker Daum Cristallerie, we mention Vénus aux Tiroirs and Vert d’Espagne.
The centerpiece of the exhibition will be the spectacular monumental painting Spellbound, the result of a unique collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Salvador Dalí.
In 1945, Hitchcock commissioned Dalí to create the monumental painting Spellbound (5 by 11 metres), visible in the film of the same name (which appeared in Italy with the title “I will save you”), whose protagonists were Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, legendary movie stars.
Hitchcock’s 1945 film “Spellbound” was one of the first films to deal with the theme of Freudian psychoanalysis. The painting was used as a backdrop to film the dream scene of “I Will Save You,” vividly capturing the illusory nature of the subconscious state, where reality is embellished by repressed thoughts and the hidden workings of the mind.
Dalí was a natural choice for this film as he was deeply interested in the topic of psychoanalysis; Furthermore, he had not only met Freud personally, but had depicted him in his works of art.
Dalí used his creative genius to challenge preconceived notions of reality and normality, effectively expressing a dream world based on the recurring image of an eye.
As Hitchcock himself said: “I could have chosen De Chirico or Ernst, but none were as imaginative and extravagant as Dalí.”
“The “SPELLBOUND – Scenography of a Dream” exhibition will be an extraordinary journey into the fantastic mind of the genius of Surrealism and the genius of Psychoanalysis”, comments Mr. Beniamino Levi, adding: “the public will live a dream within the path museum created in the magnificent Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, one of the most interesting churches in Naples from a historical and artistic point of view”.
The exhibition “SPELLBOUND – Scenography of a Dream” will open to the public this Thursday 14 April 2022 and can be visited until 30 September 2022