Master of the weird and wonderful Print E-mail
Written by Penny Kitchen, 2006   
Never mind the queue – Dalí’s amazing museum in Figueres is worth every minute you spend outside and in, says Penny Kitchen

There are very few things that I would queue hours for – but a restored theatre in a one-horse Spanish town, crammed with Salvador Dalí creations is one of them. Whichever way you approach his Teatre-Museu Dalí in Figueres, an hour’s drive north of Barcelona and an hour from Perpignan in France, its gigantic metallic dome and luminous eggs catch your eye. Statues hold gilded baguettes aloft, while many other Dalí-esque additions assure visitors they are in for something extraordinary.

Image
Galatea of the Spheres, 1952 (oil on canvas) by Salvador Dali (1904-89).
 Opened in 1974, the Teatre-Museu Dalí was the creation of the artist himself, built to house a spectacular collection of his work. Built on the site where a theatre had stood until it was burned down during the Civil War, its role both as a theatre and a museum makes it a fitting showcase for the unorthodox and often controversial works of its creator.

Here you will find the world’s largest collection of Dalí’s paintings, drawings and sculptures, including many of his famous (and enormous) masterpieces “to be seen,” as the artist declared, “as a whole”.

He added: “Where else if not in my own city would the most extravagant and solid examples of my art remain? The municipal theatre, or what was left of it, seemed to me a most appropriate place. First, because I am an eminently theatrical painter; second, because the theatre is in front of the church where I was christened; and third because it was precisely in the lobby of the theatre that I had my first exhibition of paintings.”

The exhibits trace the artist’s long career, following the development of his art from his early works through impressionism, futurism, cubism and, as one of the leading exponents of surrealism, to his own later surrealist creations. It is one of the most popular art galleries in the world, full of surprises and humour but proving, if proof were needed, that Dalí was a great artist of the 20th century.

In the ground floor galleries are many of his well-known paintings such as Portrait of Picasso (1947) and the Soft Self-Portrait with a Slice of Grilled Bacon (1941), which is in complete contrast to the young Dalí self-portrait of 1921. In the Treasure Room are some of his key works – Singularities (1935-36), The Basket of Bread (1945), Atomic Leda (1949) and The Spectre of Sex-appeal (1932)

Up on the first floor is the Wind Palace room with a large mural across the ceiling and the famous portrait Galatea of the Spheres (1952). Here, too, you will find the popular Mae West Room where the artist reproduced his three-dimensional interpretation of Mae West’s face in the furniture of a living-room!

Galleries and corridors show drawings, sculptures, prints, optical illusions, holograms and paintings to be looked at through a ‘stereoscope’. At the centre of the building, an open air courtyard contains one of his most interesting works, certainly judging from the rapt attention it was receiving from hordes of young people: the famous Rainy Cadillac, a large sculpture so-called because apart from all its other bizarre features, it rains inside the car!

Undisciplined

Salvador Dalí I Domenech was born in May 1904 in Figueres. He attended the town’s local schools and from age 13 received drawing lessons. In 1922 he registered at the school of Fine Arts in Madrid but was eventually expelled for undisciplined behaviour. His first notable exhibition was in Barcelona and he went on to design a theatrical production – the first of many he did in his lifetime.

He moved to Paris with his life partner, Gala, in 1929 and became an enthusiastic member of the Surrealist movement. Around this time he created some of his most original and controversial works. He spent the Spanish Civil War years in Paris and only when France was invaded by Germany did he move to the US, where his wit and extrovert originality made him one of the most fashionable painters of the time.

Incidentally, given Dalí’s outrageous artistic leanings and the complicated love lives of his contemporaries in the art world, his lifelong love for Gala and her influence as muse and mentor are everywhere in evidence at the museum, with many paintings and drawings of her.

Returning to his homeland after the war, Dalí and Gala established a base that attracted royalty, millionaires and intellectuals. During the 1960s Dalí painted some of his largest works, such as The Battle of Tetuan, The Apotheosis of the Dollar, The Hallucinogenic Bullfighter and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.

In the lower level of the Teatre-Museu Dalí, alongside an exhibition of gold jewellery designed by the artist and amid all the extrovert shape and colour of the exhibits, you might miss the crypt, Dalí’s final resting place. Among the vibrant, weird and wonderful works of art that he created, the modest granite slab is simple and unobtrusive – a quiet paradox.

Getting there from Barcelona
For more information tel: 972 67 75 00 or visit www.salvador-dali.org. The museum is open 9.00am–7.45pm (July–September) and Tues–Sun 10.30am–5.45pm (October–June). Admission is €10.00.

There are buses to/from Barcelona to Figueres around seven times a day, taking one hour – fare €3.65 each way.

Trains depart from Barcelona Sants and Passeig de Gràcia and take up to two hours to reach Figueres, depending on the service.

If you are driving, follow signs for the museum as you get into the town – there is a multi-story car park near it but you need to be early to grab a place. There are lots of tourist restaurants in the narrow streets nearby where you can find a reasonably priced menú del dia.

Barcelona – city of art and architecture

Thanks to numerous low-cost flights, this beautiful city is accessible to all. Whatever your artistic interests, be sure not to miss a stroll along the Ramblas, a bustling thoroughfare where flower stalls and performance artists jostle for space and one of Barcelona’s landmark sights.

The historic centre has a bohemian atmosphere, which you can discover as you walk through the Gothic Quarter, while the Ribera district, home of the Picasso Museum, is full of fashionable boutiques and bars. Head for El Raval for the museum of contemporary art and yet more designer shops, bars and restaurants.

However, if Barcelona is famous for anything, it must be its buildings. Walk around the Eixample to admire the architectural masterpieces such as the Sagrada Família church and La Pedrera, among other wonders inherited from architect Antoni Gaudí. Fabulous modernista (Art Nouveau) buildings are everywhere, many housing collections of art.

In fact, the city has over 50 museums, showcasing permanent collections of works by artists such as Picasso, Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies. In the Museu Picasso the master’s earlier work (including his famous Blue Period) is housed in five separate medieval palaces (restored and now linked) along the Carrer de Montcada.

Although the artist was born in Málaga, he spent his formative years as an artist in Barcelona before moving to Paris. Along with a large body of his paintings, there are many drawings and a collection of ceramics donated by Picasso’s widow Jacqueline. At the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya you can see one of the world’s most important collections of Romanesque art.
 
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