DALI MUSEUM, FIGUERES, CATALONIA, SPAIN

I have of late become a Dalifile. Firstly because of the amazing exhibition I saw in Paris a few months ago and secondly because I have had the privilege in the last few days of not only going to his museum, but of being able to take a look around his house.

Personally, I am taking it all as a sign. A sign that I quickly need to find an upcoming artist on the brink of superstardom who is looking for a much older muse that he will adore forever. I have decided that I want to be Gala, his wife (especially after visiting their house where I can really see myself floating around) who was even allowed to take her own lovers during their long marriage, as they appear to have had more of a mother/son, metaphysical relationship than a conventional marriage. Not sure what that was all about when Dali was obviously fixated with sex – I need to find out more. Anybody got any goss?

On the third day of our family bloggers tour to Costa Brava we went to the small town of Figueres in Catalonia, near the border with France – the birthplace of Salvador Dali which is now home to the Dali Museum. Whether you are passionate about your surreal art or just have a passing interest in Dali, this is an essential stop off or a day trip from Barcelona. Especially if you have children, because Dali is one of the few artists who appeals to kids with his bizarre but highly accessible work (and lots of additional rude bits for them to snigger at) and the museum offers all sorts of workshops to keep the children absorbed. It was one of the best, most interactional museums I have ever been to.

Here is the outside of the museum, bedecked with little loaves of bread:-

The local folklore story explains that the bread is shaped with three “ends” because the local baker had three daughters all of whom wanted the “end” – so he redesigned the loaf to look like this:-

Loving the “girls on tour” look:-

Here is the courtyard you walk into first:-

and the giant painting in the hall space:-

We were given a guided tour – shown all the two different meanings style pictures and sculptures – the one in the main hall is amazing – to see the second image of Abraham Lincoln you either have to look at it through a camera or mirror, or slit your eyes to see the alternative image. Quite incredible.

Like this:-

Or this:-

Our guide tells us all about the relationship between Salvador Dali and his wife/muse Gala – I am fascinated:-

This image of Gala features widely – almost as if she is holding a baby to her breast – a motherly, yet sexy image, even though they didn’t have any children together:-

We see the cleverly designed bedroom he made for Mae West:-

When you look at it from the front and above it creates this image:-

Many of his most famous paintings are in the international exhibition at the moment, but I don’t mind because I had the privilege of seeing them all up close and personal at the Pompidou centre. It is now in New York.

We then take part in a workshop for children whereby they are able to think about Dali challenging our reality Vs dream world and how to change the image. They offer loads of different types of workshop – making animals, turning children into angels, all sorts:-

Ridiculous jumping photo of us all. I can’t jump. Never have been able to. However, surprisingly I seem to be massively getting into the whole exercise:-

and then again…

It really was a great visit – my son, who is not someone who generally enjoys being taken to art galleries and museums really loved it. Highly recommended.

TEATRE-MUSEU DALI
Placa GAla-Salvador Dali, 5
17600 Figueres
TEl: 972 67 75 00
tmgrups@fundaciodali.org

Many thanks to the Costa Brava and Catalan Tourism Board who invited us to visit. All opinions on this blog post and all others related to the press trip are my own.