MY FRIENDS REN AND ELEANORE

Attending the Grand Opening of the splendid new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida (story and pics below), I thought frequently of how thrilled A. Reynolds and Eleanore Morse would have been to see the culmination of their half-century efforts to build the world's best Dali collection. Perhaps they were with us. I almost thought at times that I heard Ren's chuckling.

He and I first met in 1987 when he stopped by my Colorado Springs appraisal office to discuss an upcoming prosecution of two Denver brothers whose 43 galleries sold fake Dali prints throughout the southwest. He would testify and I was the prosecution's chief expert witness.

Biographies and obituaries (both in The New York Times) are easily available online. The memories I have of the Morses are both personal and enjoyable.

If he was here today, I believe that Ren would agree that we hit it off immediately--as he told Eleanor when we called her from my office. As he saw it, he and I were both Colorado boys. He had grown up in the state, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Colorado, was a Board member of the Denver Natural History Museum, had published a newspaper column titled Gold Links Tailings about life in the gold mining town of Leadville, and collected and wrote about etchings by George Elbert Burr.

I was the Past-President of the Colorado Open Space Council and the Colorado Nature Conservancy, owned a wildlife preserve on the west side of Pikes Peak, was an expert on etchings and he and I had climbed many of the same mountains. In St. Petersburg he loved the fact that I, like he, wore a bolo tie.

When I visited Ren and Eleanor in 1987, 1993 and 1998 to appraise the museum collection and to lecture, Ren frequently brought me volumes of his journals and read me passages. Eleanor would tell me stories about the acquisition of one work or another. When we went to dinner at their favorite restaurant, we would often be accompanied by curator Joan Kropf who was really good about going through the experience yet again and hearing the same stories yet again.

The first time they took me to their house, in 1987, Ren pointed at a handsome polished ebony sculpture on a stand in the living room. "Bet you don't know what that is," he said. When I identified it as the rowing post from a Venetian gondola he was amazed because he said I was the first person to ever pass his little test.

Sweet Eleanore (with a core of iron) was an accomplished French scholar and translated numerous Dali books, including Robert Descharnes' 1984 monumental Salvador Dali: The Work the Man. When she heard that my wife Melinda and I would be attending the 2004 Dali centennial seminars at the Museum, she invited us to dinner at the Yacht Club and her box at the symphony. She and Melinda had become fond of each other when Melinda assisted me with the 1998 appraisal. Every year I also did appraisals of the artworks that the Morses donated to the Museum.

Eleanor was less passionate that Ren who often burst out with opinions before carefully considering them. When he heard for the first time about the Albaretto Collection in Turin, Italy, he stated that the works must be fakes because he didn't know about them. Later the couple became close to the other collecting couple, Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto, visited their home and exchanged warm letters, which I have read. When I twice visited the Albarettos, we shared stories about our mutual friends from Florida. Unfortunately, Ren's first response has been used by the bad guys in the Dali market to taint the Albaretto reputation. Dali had carefully kept his major collectors from knowing about each other.

As the new museum opens to welcome its annual quarter of a million visitors, I enjoy thinking about what it would mean to my friends Ren and Eleanore. The building is enormous, the collection is magnificently hung and the curatorial staff is far larger and more scholarly that the Morses every knew. Dr. William Jeffett's splendid 2010 book Dali Doubled is a must-have for every Dali fan. Ren, who wrote seven Dali books, would be impressed and proud.

The top image is the wonderful new home of The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Just below it are Elliott King, Dali scholar and the curator of Dali: The Later Years in Atlanta and me in my Dalinian costume for the surreal parade from the old museum to the new

ATLANTA TO ST. PETERSBURG

ATLANTA TO ST. PETERSBURG

My last post shared some of the excitement expressed by the droves of visitors to the all-night "closing" of the major exhibition at the High Museum in Atlanta, Dali: The Later Years. Well now we have the numbers.

When we again linked up a couple of days later in St. Petersburg, Florida, the show's curator Elliott King told me that over 15,000 people waited in line, paid their money and viewed the exhibit. That would be phenomenal, a dream or impossible for almost any other artist, but not for Dali and not for a show of this quality and importance.

It was evident from the people swirling around Elliott and me that they considered seeing the show before it closed was a personal priority. It was fun to point out to people that the tall young man with the sequined tie and sequined shoes standing next to me was the curator who had, in one year, identified the works he wanted to display, borrowed them from museums and private collections, written the catalog, received and hung the shipped artworks and hosted the surrounding events. The responses were always such as to make Elliott's mother very proud. They also showed that the viewers had some idea of the curator's Herculean task.


OPENING OF THE NEW SALVADOR DALI MUSEUM

Well, we were finally at the anticipated date - 1/11/2011 - the opening of the magnificent new building that will henceforth offer to the world the unrivalled collection and changing exhibitions of The Salvador Dali Museum. Not only that, but I was waking up to the day in the Hilton Bayside Hotel just a couple of blocks away in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was there because Elliott King had been kind enough to call me when he arrived in Atlanta and heard an ice storm was forecast for Monday when he and I were scheduled to fly to Tampa. We both changed our airline reservations to get out of Dodge on Sunday. I am so grateful for this kindness and view with horror the possibility that I might otherwise have been stuck in Atlanta when the airport was shut down. I would not then have been waking up to the great day in St. Petersburg.

The surreal parade from the wonderful old museum to the new building was great fun. Lots of people dressed up in Dalinian costumes and there were fun marching groups with props, including some I never identified. The route was lined with television and other cameras and six broadcast trucks had their antennas raised for transmission.

Having been to the members' preview at the museum when I arrived from Atlanta on the previous Sunday, I was less concerned with seeing the interior and installation in the new building, than I was in seeing the characters who showed up, some other Dali heavy hitters, the panel of speakers and S.A.R. la Infanta Cristina of Spain. The Princess, whose life my wife well knows from HOLA! magazine, gave a generous short speech before cutting the ribbon, one half of which will be delivered to the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali in Figures, Spain.

Since I first visited the (now old) Dali Museum in 1987 to do the first of three appraisals of the collection for founder A. Reynolds Morse, I have examine each piece in the collection under magnification, so my visit during the preview was a visit to many old friends. No longer are the huge masterpieces lined up on a single wall somewhat remote from visitors. Each has its own alcove and visitors can get really close to each. This is great for viewers and I hope it will never prove to be too close. The small, intimate works, each protected by glass, continue to be lined up for close viewing. I assume that the guards, as was the practice in the previous facility, will have to clean nose and finger prints off the glass twice a day.

It was good to again see Curator Peter Tush and discuss how we thought the building would "work". There is no question that it is an inspiring design. It is dominated by a free-standing three story high spiral staircase on the inside and an irregularly shaped glass dome that flows from the roof to the ground on the outside. Constructed of 1,026 individually sized triangles of glass, the "Glass Enigma" suggests that a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome may have melted in the Florida sun. From the atrium inside, it opens the building to a lovely exterior view of gardens, palm trees and a yacht marina across the street.

The Salvador Dali Museum has housed the world's largest and best collection of original Salvador Dali paintings in St.Petersburg since 1982. It has become the state's most-attended museum (over 200,000 a year) and will certainly attract even more visitors with its new building.

Everyone who works for the museum, the outstanding army of volunteers and the movers and shakers of St. Petersburg can be very proud of their new gem. The Dali world has a new icon at which people can experience the genius and universal appeal of Salvador Dali. I am so pleased to have been part of the celebration.

ATLANTA SHOW CONFIRMS DALI'S APPEAL

ATLANTA SHOW CONFIRMS DALI'S APPEAL

SALVADOR DALI: THE LATE WORK, currated by Elliott King at the High Museum Of Art in Atlanta was just as splendid a show as I had hoped. When you read a high-quality show catalog, the curator's essay will reveal just how much he or she "gets" the artist's work and will also frequently demonstrate how much he or she likes it. In the case of an Elliott King, you have a curator with a life-long dedication to the study of the artist so an exhibition he organizes can be expected to offer special insights. This one absolutely did and the crowds responded big time.

The High Museum's idea was to mount a final celebration titled "Dali 'till Dawn" that would keep the exhibition open for its final 31 hours. King was scheduled to lead three tours - 1am, 3am and 5am! The next afternoon, after we both flew to St. Petersburg ahead of Atlanta's snow storm, he called to ask if I could join him and some other Dali people for drinks and possibly dinner. What stamina! What youth!

Elliott and I linked up in Atlanta (as planned) and went to meet a very engaging and stimulating coupe for drinks. We then swung past the museum at about 8:00 to see what was happening. The line for admission was about three blocks long. We went back to the hotel and agreed to visit the exhibition at 10:00 PM. Again, when we arrived we were stunned to see the line had not diminished and the museum was packed. The atmosphere was electric and the excitement easily negated the fact that the temperature was 38 degrees and a strong, cold wind was blowing. Apparently hundreds of people thought the discomfort was worth braving. They were eventually well rewarded.

I also got the reward I had long anticipated as Elliott gave me a personal tour of the show and we discussed the works, their history and techniques and a great deal more about our mutual passion--Salvador Dali. It is always so exciting to be with an intellectual and well informed companion, especially at such an exhibition. The show was really splendid in spite of the fact that 18 artworks had been reurned to The Salvador Dali Museum to be hung for the grand opening of their new building on the 11th. I, of course, had examined every one of them under magnification when I appraised the museum's collection three times throughout the years.

When I left the High Museum at 1:30 in the morning with two companions with whom I discussed Dali until 2:30 back at my hotel, the line to get into the exhibition was still two blocks long! The temperature had dropped even lower, but these folks would not be denied. The show was crowded all night. What a recognition of the fascination people have with Salvador Dali and what a recognition of the show that Elliott King had curated--in just one year. Wow.

I arrived in St. POetersburg in time for the members' reception at the new museum. The Grand opening is tomorrow. Stay tuned for a report of all of the fun and foolishness and my opinions of the new buiding.

ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA

ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA

What a surprise to have a quick flurry of e-mails and telephone calls with Christine Argillet who, with her very talented artist husband Jean and her son and his girlfriend had decided to make a trip to Santa Fe. Christine and Jean have been here about three times before and my wife Melinda and I are always delighted to see them. What a sparkling and fun evening we have when we meet for dinner. It has been equally fun to meet for lunch or to have them visit our home in the canyon. We have also gotten together several times at their home in Venice, California.

Naturally there was talk of Christine's totally unique father, art publisher, photographer and gallerist Pierre Argillet. I remembered my visit with Pierre at his chateau south of Paris and the Argillet's added much from their extensive experiences. Viken Argillet had spent a lot of time with his grandfather on various occasions, including when he could not fly out of Paris because of the 9/11 attacks. I suggested that these experiences helped him develop his "eye" as a filmmaker and he enthusiastically agreed.

Christine told me that when her father and Dali hit on an idea for a suite of prints illustrating a text, they were both so impatient to see the results that their joint energy was frenetic. I have seen many of the preliminary sketches that Dali did during their discussions. I have also seen a lot of the "home movies" Pierre made of the "happenings" they staged and of other visits to the chateau by Salvador and Gala. The best of all--which Baron Philippe duNoyer has promised me a copy of--is a short clip of Salvador Dali dancing the Charleston on the lawn.

What a pleasure it was to get a Dali fix from this delightful family just days before I fly to Atlanta for the closing of Elliot King's A-1 exhibition of the late works of The Master. How do I know the show is so good before I even see it? I've been spending time with the excellent catalog that Elliott gave me when we met for lunch last month.

And.....speaking of the show and the catalog, there is something that I have not mentioned previously. Elliott astounded me with the information that he had only a year to plan the exhibition with the staff of the High Museum, arrange loans of the major works from institutions in the US and Spain, write the catalog with essays by other Dali scholars and pull all of the thousands of details together prior to the opening. I was astounded. Such an exhibition usually takes three or four years of work.

I'm getting pretty excited about the trip to Atlanta and then on to St. Petersburg. I have seen a great many of the works in the show, and, of course, have appraised all of the paintings at The Salvador Dali Museum. Elliott was even able to include the iconic and internationally-known 1931 oil "Persistence of Memory" from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I always enjoy asking people who have not seen the actual painting how large they think it is. The answer is usually expressed with hand movements indicating a work about 20 by 24 inches or larger. It's only 9 1/2 by 13 inches! That makes it even more impressive.

SO MANY GREAT SUPPORTERS IN 2010

SO MANY GREAT SUPPORTERS IN 2010

Now that we're launched into 2011, I am spending some time looking back at what was a very difficult year professionally. There was the Google Bomb and the cyber mugging of Fine Art Register. There was the Federal Court trial in Port Huron, Michigan in which I was not as well used as I would like and the subsequent puzzling behavior of Albert Scaglione. There were lies and attacks from others and a significant loss of prestige and business.

At the same time, there was a tremendous swell of support and positive response on my behalf to all of this. When I look at the members of the Dali Study Group, the former clients, the colleagues and others who took time to express their continued support and admiration, I find that they represent the best and the most informed opinions. They are people who have looked at the facts, weighed the reputations of those involved, factored in their experiences of me over the years and have said quite clearly, "Bernard, we believe in you, regret the pain you have suffered, and know that those who do not treat you as you deserve are beneath our contempt.

These opinions--coming from people who really know--have sustained and energised me. These are the voices that repeatedly say, "Keep up the good work, Bernard. Continue to be the beacon of truth and integrity and don't let the scum win."

I am immensely grateful to those voices. I am grateful for their loyalty, their careful weighing of the facts and their courage in speaking out. It may be that a reputation carefully built over decades can be destroyed overnight, but these people have reminded me that I am not in that position.

Now it's on to exciting new adventures. Next week at the High Museum in Atlanta catching up with Elliott King's splendid presentation of Dali's last forty years of work and his excellent catalog essay demonstrating its quality will be a marvelous way to kick off the Year of Return. That will be followed almost immediately by the Grand Opening of the fantastic new Salvador Dali Museum location in St. Petersburg. That will attract all of the brightest and the best from the world of Dali. Even if one of the low life creeps into the festivities, it will make no difference. I'll be among those who know more about The Master than have gathered anywhere else.

Then in February I'll spend several days in Mexico City with one of the most passionate--and best informed--Dali collectors I know of. That will hopefully be followed by the retrial of Park West Gallery v. Fine Art Registry, Theresa Franks et al. and I'll hopefully be asked to contribute my expertise and perspectives.

Amidst all of this, I'll have the always rewarding experience of talking with Dali collectors almost every day that I am in my office. I enjoy the telephone consultations so much and am pleased to always be able to provide more information than others are capable of. Those calls, in which I tell a client everything I know and they need to know about their Dali artwork, are always great fun. That's true even when the discussion is about a fake because I have the opportunity to tell the collector stories about the scoundrels responsible.

Yes. Actually 2010 was a pretty exciting year and the positives clearly overshadow the smoggy parts. There are a lot of wonderful people out there and I am grateful to draw energy and pleasure from them. 2011 is going to be GREAT! On to the YEAR OF RETURN!