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Salvador Dali was born in the Catalan town of Figueres, north of Barcelona Spain. He was the greatest artist of the surrealist art movement. In 1970, he dedicated his energy into transforming the Municipal Theater of Figures Spain into a museum and art gallery. It officially opened in 1974.
He was born in Figueres and received his first art lesson when he was ten years old. One of his instructors was Ramon Pichot, a well-known impressionist artist and art professor at the Municipal Drawing School in Spain. Dali studied at the Royal Adademy of Art in Madrid. In 1928, he went to Paris where he met Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro.
Dali’s Surrealist art was based on the theory of Dr. Sigmund Freud and his craftsmanship is characterized by melting watches in his famous work “The Persistence of Memory” (shown below on the right). Loaves of bread also permeate much of his work. He was a great admirer of the Italian Renaissance painter Raphael.
Dali met his beloved Gala, a Russian immigrant who was ten years older than him when she was married to his friend Paul Eluard. They married in 1934 and he spent much of his career painting Gala. He was inspired by classical artists like Velasquez and Michelangelo.
The bust of Velasquez displays different characters on the face including a nun kneeling in prayer on the nose and the image of Las Meninas on the forehead.
Step back after you admire the nude painting of Gala in the center of the museum looking at the sea. The same painting appears as President Lincoln at 18 meters away. I found this feature to be amazing!
I love the central courtyard with mannequins in the windows, the Dali Cadillac under Gala’s boat in the center and a carved figure that looks like Bacchus.
One of my favorite exhibits is the Mae West Room. Happy Travels from your friends @ www.vino-con-vista.com.
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