The Wandering Disciple

Like a work of art coming to life, this bench seems to bring to life a Salvador Dali masterpiece in the heart of St Pete. St Petersburg is home to The Dali Museum, the second largest collection of artwork in the world by the surrealist painter. While there are hundreds of masterpieces on the gallery walls inside the museum, there are plenty of Dali influences around the grounds as well like this bench and even the building itself. (Photo: August 28, 2021)

St Petersburg, Florida: When it comes to surrealism art, there is no one more renowned than Salvador Dali.  In the course of his career, Dali created more than 1,500 works of art with some of them being among the most known masterpieces in the art community.  While his works are displayed in art museums across the globe there are two museums dedicated solely to his work, the Dali Theatre-Museum in his hometown of Figueres, Spain and The Dali Museum right here in St Petersburg, Florida.    Located in the art district along the St Pete waterfront, the Dali Museum is a work of art in itself.  This iconic waterfront landmark may be the vision of the museum now, the collection was not always displayed here. It got its start in an Ohio family's private collection in the 1940's. The collection that is now on display in St Pete started when Reynolds and Eleanor Morse attended an art exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art which showcased works by Dali. The purchase...

In the early 1900's, mascots on the radiators of cars were becoming a popular fashion trend. In an effort of maintaining a classy look on the iconic Rolls-Royce, one of the designers Claude Johnson decided to have a dignified mascot created for the Rolls-Royce. The Spirit of Ecstasy was is a sculpture created by Charles Robinson Sykes and features a woman that appears to be flying. The final product was given to Rolls-Royce in February 1911 and initially became an add-on option for the car but by 1920 it was a standard feature of all Rolls-Royce cars. While the ornament may have evolved over the years since, it still remains one of the most iconic features of this classy sedan. This particular mascot comes from an exhibit at The Dali Museum in St Petersburg entitled "Rainy Day Rolls", a modern day take of Dali's iconic rainy day taxi. (Photo: August 28, 2021)