Salvador Dali rarities go on display in Atlanta

Salvador Dali's oil painting Santiago el Grande is on loan from Canada

An exhibition of late works by artist Salvador Dali opens this weekend in Atlanta, including several pieces not seen in the US for half a century.

The collection of 40 paintings - plus films, sculptures and photographs - focuses on the period from 1940 to 1983.

Works have been brought in from countries around the world - including Canada, Scotland and Japan.

The exhibition runs at Atlanta's High Museum of Art until 9 January.

"It's become a really interesting area for investigation because you have Dali's career which spans almost all of the 20th century, but historically people have really only looked at the 1930s," exhibition curator Elliott King told the Associated Press. "It was almost like he died in 1940."

The exhibition includes photos by American photographer Philippe Halsman showing the artist displaying what King describes as Dali's "wacky showman" side.

Atomic explosion

Salvador Dali is best known for his surrealist works

The exhibition also reflects two recurring influences on Dali's later work - his return to the Catholic Church and nuclear physics.

One work that illustrates this theme is Santiago El Grande - which shows a crucifixion scene and a horse rearing up above an atomic explosion.

Another is The Madonna of Port-Lligat - showing the Madonna and Child breaking into particles. The painting is on loan from a museum in Japan and has not been seen in the US since 1951.

The work Assumpta Corpuscularia Lapilazulina - which features Dali's wife as the Virgin Mary - has been in private collections and has not been exhibited since 1959.

The exhibition also includes the 1960 documentary film Chaos and Creation - an early example of video art which includes pigs, popcorn and a motorbike.