Where to see Dalí

Figueres, Spain the Mae West Room at the Dalí Theatre (123RF)

As a young teen, my older brother gifted me a large poster of a strange painting called “Swans Reflecting Elephants” (1937) by Salvador Dalí. At the time, elephants were my favorite animal. I hung the painting on the wall above my bed. At first, I didn’t see any elephants, only swans swimming in a lake with a couple of odd clouds hanging overhead. But I kept doing a double take as something about the painting seemed surreal. Finally, I saw in the reflection of the lake, the mirroring image of the swans and gnarled trees behind them created three beautiful elephants. It quickly became my favorite piece of artwork.

Soon the painting had a trance-like hold on me. I’d stare at it for long stretches of time and other double images started to emerge. What looked like a large rock also appeared to be a lion, and within the lion’s face, I found the shoulders of a man whose silhouette became clear to me as he stood with hands in his pocket in front of the rock. I wondered what other hidden images I might find in the painting. It was such an interesting concept to me that I became enamored with Dalí’s Surrealist style, and later for my final high school art portfolio I compiled my own paintings and illustrations of people hidden within images of nature and animals.

I loved that poster on my wall. Unfortunately for me the original painting is privately owned, but now that I live in Europe, there is an opportunity to see many other works by Dalí, so I’ve compiled a list of places where you can be transported into the strange, mystical realms of Dalí.

““Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision” – Salvador Dalí”

The Dalinian Triangle

there are three primary Dalí dedicated museums in the Costa Brava region of Catalonia, Spain lovingly referred to as The Dalinian Triangle. For more information about these three sites, visit Salvador-dali.org

Dalí Theater-Museum | Figueres, Spain

a strange red building with gold adornments and large white eggs on the roof.

Figueres, Spain Dali Theater Museum (123RF)

Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain in 1904. In 1960, the mayor of his hometown asked that he donate a piece of artwork to be hung at the Museu de l’ Empordà. Dalí wanted to give more back to the town, so instead decided to build his own museum so that his art could live on in Figueres.

The Figueres Municipal Theatre’s lobby hosted his very first exhibition, however it was nearly destroyed in air raids during the Spanish Civil War, which made it a perfect location to rebuild. Dalí had a huge hand in the building, installation and concept of the museum. Each room is designed to be viewed wholly so that viewers can feel as though they are in a living painting. The museum houses over 2,400 of Dalí’s works from paintings to manuscripts. He also wanted other artists to be featured, so works by Evarist Vallès and Antoni Pitxot are also on display.

Dalí’s work is far from redundant. He was a true visionary and worked in various styles and mediums like Surrealism, Freudian dreamscapes and mystical nuclearism. Prominent works at the museum include: Dalí’s last painting, “The Swallow’s Tail” (1983), and “Galatea of the Spheres” (1952), which depicts his wife Gala and is a synthesis of Renaissance art and atomic theory. Also on display is “Leda Atomica” (1949), inspired by atoms from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. For his final resting place, Dalí decided to be buried in the museum and his crypt is now a part of it.

Salvador Dalí House | Port Lligat, Spain

Formerly Dalí’s main home and workshop, this museum showcases the artist’s work and offers a deeper look into his personal life. With a large white egg balanced on top of the roof, you can’t miss the house overlooking the sea. It has been exceptionally well preserved. Mirroring his artwork, the labyrinth structure, décor and design are meant to be unsettling and whimsical. Some of the staircases lead nowhere, there are false doors and windows have varying shapes and sizes.

Gala Dalí Castle | Púbol, Spain

In the small village of Púbol is the castle museum, formerly Gala’s private home which Dalí gifted to her. It features the unconventional life the lovers had together. After her death, Dalí moved in, and it is where he completed his last painting. He lived there until a fire broke out and he spent the rest of his days at the Theatre-Museum.

The house has paintings Dalí gifted Gala and the garden is decorated with his sculptures of long-legged elephants, You can view Gala’s privately owned collection of artworks and learn more about the life of Dalí’s muse.

Dalí Elsewhere in Europe

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum | Madrid, Spain

“Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening” (1944)

This portraiture piece features Dalí’s muse and love of his entire life, Elena Dyakonova, whom he called Gala. She modeled in many of his paintings. This piece is a dreamy delirium and while another of Dalí’s most iconic paintings, “The Elephants” (1948) is housed at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, you can see an elephant in a similar style in the background of this painting. For more information, visit museothyssen.org.

The Tate Modern | London, England

“Metamorphosis of Narcissus” (1973)

A man in a red shirt looking at a colorful representation painting of two mannequin-like figures dipicting Narcissus.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 12: Man looking at Salvador Dali painting Metamorphosis of Narcissus in gallery Tate modern on May 12, 2018 in London (123RF)

This painting is Dalí’s interpretation of the Greek myth of Narcissus. He played with double images to capture the essence of the story. This was one of his first paintings made with the Paranoiac Critical method, which is rooted in spontaneity and irrationality to achieve a sense of delirium. The painting plays with Freudian themes, self-reflection and an overall obscurity. This piece is on display in the Monsieur Vénus room, which explores different approaches to the human for. In the past, Dalí’s work inspired a themed tasting menu at the museum which always blends art with unique experiences. For more information, visit tate.org.uk.

Reina Sofia | Madrid, Spain

“The Great Masturbator” (1929)

A “saucy exploration of Freudian fantasy,” Dalí kept this personal piece until his death in 1989. some of the elements of the painting are said to relate to traumatic experiences he suffered from in his youth and other conditions he suffered from at a more mature age. Dalí used surrealism to play with themes of fantasy, dreams, psychology and cosmic being. There are 24 Dalí works on display here, including a masterful realism painting of his sister, “Girl at the Window” (1924). For more information, visit museoreinasofia.es.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen | Rotterdam, The Netherlands

“Couple With Their Heads Full of Clouds” (1936)

This seemingly charming diptych painting features double portraits of Dalí and Gala. The two separate panels converse with one another to depict dormant childhood memories of a blissful state in contrast to an inhospitable desert landscape. One of Dalí’s most recognizable symbols, the burning giraffe, is found in this painting. In his words it represents “apocalyptic masculinity.” In this painting the burning giraffe suggests the impending catastrophes of the Spanish Civil War. For more information, visit boijmans.nl.

Dalí Paris | France

A pretty white building with and elegant font spelling “Dali Paris” there is a black and white picture of Salvador Dali with his iconic upturned mustache on the right by the doors. There are accents of red on the doors and in the picture.

Dali Paris Exposition (Florian75018, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)

There are over 300 artworks from a private collection featured here near the heart of Montmartre. This collection is more light-hearted emphasizing erotic, dreamy and funny drawings and sculptures by Dalí. What makes this museum unique is that the collection of sketches and drawings here are not widely known by the public, so you might find pieces you never knew existed. You can also see famous sculptures like “The Space Elephant” (1980) or “Alice and Wonderland” (1977), which depicted his own state of feeling in-between reality and a dream world. While Dalí was working on his Don Quixote series of engravings in Montemarte, the self-proclaimed Empress Lucie Valore suggested Dalí become Emperor. He accepted, but the affair never came to be. For more information, visit daliparis.com.

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