Dalí’s Aliyah

Image Rights of Salvador Dalí reserved. Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2026.

In partnership with The Dalí Museum Explore the themes and significance of the exhibition Dalí’s Aliyah with Dr. David Blumenthal and Peter Tush during a conversation held at The Florida Holocaust Museum.

FHM Members: FREE | Not-Yet Members: $5.00 Reserve Your Spot Today About Dalí’s Aliyah:In 1966, Samuel Shore of Shorewood Publishers commissioned Salvador Dalí to create a series of twenty-five paintings marking Israel’s twentieth anniversary, depicting the renewal of the Jewish people. Dalí completed the mixed media originals in gouache, watercolor, and ink, drawing on both the Hebrew Bible and contemporary history, and they were reproduced as lithographs in a limited edition of 250 sets, each accompanied by a letter from David Ben-Gurion.

Titled Aliyah, the series was finished in 1968 for Israeli Independence Day. After being exhibited and sold that year, the works were dispersed, leaving only a handful of complete sets known today.

DR. DAVID BLUMENTHAL David R.

Blumenthal is the retired Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies at Emory University. He has contributed greatly to the growth of Jewish Studies, the place of Judaism in Religious Studies, interreligious dialogue, and the reframing of Judaism in light of the Holocaust, postmodernism, and poststructuralism.

PETER TUSH Peter Tush is Curator and Senior Interpreter at The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Art History from New College of Florida and his master’s degree in Art History from the University of South Florida. For more than two decades, Tush has played a central role in interpreting the Museum’s Dalí collection and developing special exhibitions.

His work includes training docents; writing audio guides and gallery texts; collaborating with curatorial colleagues on exhibitions; and working closely with the education department. Recent curatorial projects include Where Ideas Come From: Dalí’s Drawings and Reimagining Nature: Dalí’s Floral Fantasies.

Tush has taught courses such as Dalí, Surrealism, and Film and has lectured widely on Dalí and Surrealism, with topics including Dalí and Hollywood, Surrealism and Women, and Dalí’s Ghosts. In addition to his museum work, Tush co-hosts Step Outside, an experimental music program airing Wednesday nights from 8:00–10:00 p.m. on WMNF 88.5 FM Community Radio in Tampa, Florida.