University Gallery Acquires Dali and Segal Prints

A winter 2016 exhibition at the George Segal Gallery showcased some of the more than 150 works of art it recently acquired, including two lithographs by Salvador Dali – the first examples of the celebrated Spanish surrealist’s work added to the collection.

"Manhattan Skyline" by Salvador Dali.
"Manhattan Skyline" by Salvador Dali. Photo by Anthony Louis Rodriguez

While Dali is perhaps best known for his surreal and sometimes dark images of melting clocks and giant ants, the two undated color lithographs show his whimsical side. In “Manhattan Skyline” a moon-like face gazes down on a nighttime cityscape complete with howling dogs, while “Tiger Lillies” fancifully depicts an orange-blossomed tiger lily plant sprouting from a mustachioed upper lip.

Gifts from Dr. Chan Beals and Kate Nicholls, the two Dalis highlighted “MSU Recent Art Acquisitions: Segal, Dali and Others,” a winter exhibit of more than 30 of the Segal Gallery’s 2015 acquisitions. The show also featured important new aquatint, lithograph and silkscreen prints by George Segal as well as works by some 21st-century artists.

“The works on exhibit are all gifts to the University through the George Segal Gallery,” explains George Segal Gallery Director M. Teresa Lapid Rodriguez, the show’s curator. “The exhibition is testimony to the depth of our growing collection of modern and contemporary art.”