Background

Albert Reynolds Morse was born on October 20, 1914, in Denver, Colorado, the United States, to Bradish P. and Anna Morse.

Education

Morse graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a degree in geology. He received a master's degree from the Harvard Business School in 1939.

Career

Around 1941, while working for the Reed Prentice Corporation, makers of plastic injection molding machines in Worcester Morse was sent to Cleveland to set up a branch office. There he met Eleanor Reese, the daughter of a Cleveland businessman. They first saw Dali's work in a traveling Museum of Modern Art show in 1941 and were immediately drawn to it. When they married in 1943, they bought their first Dali, ''Daddy Longlegs of the Evening - Hope!'' (1940), as a wedding present to themselves. Within a year they had three more Dalis, all from the early 30's.

When the Morses had accumulated the largest collection of Dali’s art in the world, they founded the Dali Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1982 Morse and his wife had donated their collection to the state of Florida, and the Salvador Dali Museum now stands in St. Petersburg. Morse penned a number of books devoted to Dali and his work, including his 1958 Dali: A Study of His Life and Works and his 1965 Dali: 1910-1965. Additionally, Morse wrote literary works, such as his 1945 The Limerick: A Facet of Our Culture and the 1946 Folk Poems and Ballads.

Achievements

• Morse spent most of his life gathering one of the world’s largest collections of Dali’s surrealist works. Now valued at about $150 million, the collection includes 94 of the artist’s oil paintings.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Dali: A study of his life and work 1958
  • Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso: A preliminary study in their similarities and contrasts 1973
  • Dali's Animal Crackers 1993
  • Salvador Dali: The Masterworks 1971
  • A brief guide to the Dali Museum: With explanations of the major paintings 1983
  • The Salvador Dali museum souvenir catalog 1971
  • The works of M. P. Shiel : A Study in Bibliography 1980
  • A new introduction to Salvadore Dali. 1960
  • The Limerick: A Facet of Our Culture 1945

Interests

• Artists

  Salvador Dali

Connections

The Morses married in 1943. They had one son, Brad.

Father:

Bradish P. Morse

Mother:

Anna Morse

Spouse:

Eleanor Morse

Son:

Brad Morse

Acquaintance:

Salvador Dali

References

• Contemporary Authors, Vol. 189
  2001