Eleanor Morse, co-founder of the Salvador Dali Museum, died Thursday at her St. Petersburg home. She was 97.
Morse and her husband, A. Reynolds Morse, began collecting Dali's works in 1943 when they purchased his 1940 painting, "Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, Hope."
They befriended the surrealist master soon afterward. They eventually amassed a collection the value of which was estimated at $150 million in 2000.
"[It was] so different in subject matter. And it was so beautifully painted," Eleanor Morse told the Tribune in 2000. "It was love at first sight. ... We HAD to have a Dali."
Originally opening in Cleveland, the collection was moved to St. Petersburg in 1982.
Born in Cleveland, the former Eleanor Reese received her Bachelor of Music degree from Rollins College in Winter Park. She continued her music studies at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and earned a Master's degree in French and Spanish from Case Western Reserve University.
She translated several works by and about Dalí, including "Dali de Draeger" (1968), "The Tragic Myth of Millet's Angelus" (1986), "Salvador Dali: The Work the Man by Robert Descharnes" (1984).
Her scholarly work won her awards from the French and Spanish governments as well as from her alma mater, Rollins College.
She is survived by her son Brad Morse, his wife Mary Ann, and two grandchildren, Gregory and Tracy.
The funeral will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday, following visitation starting at 3, at First Presbyterian Church, 701 Beach Drive N.E.. in St. Petersburg.
The family requests that in lieu of Flowers, donations be made to The Dali Museum or the Florida Orchestra.
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