Art museum
The
Dali Theatre and Museum
(
Catalan
:
Teatre-Museu Dali
,
IPA:
[te?at??
mu?z?w
ð??li]
;
Spanish
:
Teatro-Museo Dali
) is a museum dedicated to the artist
Salvador Dali
in his home town of
Figueres
, in
Catalonia
,
Spain
. Salvador Dali lived there from 1984 to 1989, and is buried in a crypt below the stage. The museum received 1,368,755 visitors in 2016.
[1]
Museum
[
edit
]
I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a great surrealist object. It will be [a] totally theatrical museum. The people who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.
[2]
: 1
Salvador Dali
The heart of the museum is the town's theatre that Dali knew as a child. It was where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dali's art was shown. The old theatre was burned during the
Spanish Civil War
and remained in a state of ruin. In 1960, Dali and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous son.
[2]
: 4
In 1968, the city council approved the plan, and construction began the following year.
[2]
: 4
The architects were Joaquim de Ros i Ramis and Alexandre Bonaterra.
[3]
: 152
The museum opened on September 28, 1974,
[2]
: 4
[4]
and it expanded through the mid-1980s. The museum now includes buildings and courtyards adjacent to the old theatre.
The museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dali, the core of which was from the artist's personal collection. In addition to Dali paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dali sculptures, three-dimensional
collages
, mechanical devices, and other curiosities from Dali's imagination. A highlight is a three-dimensional
anamorphic
living-room installation with a
Mae West Lips Sofa
, a custom sofa that looks like the face of
Mae West
when viewed from a certain spot.
[3]
: 156
[2]
: 28
The museum also houses a small selection of works by other artists collected by Dali, ranging from
El Greco
and
Bougereau
to
Marcel Duchamp
and
John de Andrea
,
[2]
: 35
In accordance with Dali's specific request, a second-floor gallery is devoted to the work of his friend and fellow
Catalan
artist
Antoni Pitxot
, who also became director of the museum after Dali's death.
[2]
A glass
geodesic dome
cupola crowns the stage of the old theatre, and Dali is buried in a
crypt
below the stage floor.
[2]
: 19
The space formerly occupied by the audience has been transformed into a courtyard open to the sky, with
Dionysian
nude figurines standing in the old balcony windows.
[2]
: 12?17
A Dali installation inside a full-sized car, inspired by
Rainy Taxi
(1938), is parked near the centre of the space.
[2]
: 12?15
Art collection
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]
The face of
Mae West
appears only from a special
point of view
, and includes Dali's
Mae West Lips Sofa
The Dali Theatre and Museum holds the largest collection of major works by Dali in a single location. Some of the most important exhibited works are
Port Alguer
(1924),
The Spectre of Sex-appeal
(1932),
Soft self-portrait with grilled bacon
(1941),
Poetry of America?the Cosmic Athletes
(1943),
Galarina
(1944?45),
Basket of Bread
(1945),
Leda Atomica
(1949),
Galatea of the Spheres
(1952),
Crist de la Tramuntana
(1968),
[3]
: 154
and
Dali Seen from the Back Painting Gala from the Back Eternalised by Six Virtual Corneas Provisionally Reflected by Six Real Mirrors
(1972-73).
There is also a set of works created by the artist expressly for the Museum, including the
Mae West
room, the
Palace of the Wind
room, the
Monument to
Francesc Pujols
, and the
Cadillac plujos
.
A collection of
holographic art
by Dali, and a collection of
jewellery
he designed are on display. Another room contains a
bathtub
and a side table with an open drawer and a lamp, all of which Dali had installed upside-down on the ceiling.
[2]
: 31
An extension to the museum building contains a room dedicated to
optical illusions
,
stereographs
, and
anamorphic art
created by Dali. The artist's final works, including his last oil painting,
The Swallow's Tail
(1983),
[2]
: 42
are on display here.
Gallery
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]
-
Museum entrance
-
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Fantastic figures adorn the south facade
-
Sculpture next to entrance
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Courtyard, with Cadillac installation at lower right
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Courtyard view showing figurines
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Inside view of the copula
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Roof parapet with giant eggs
-
Dali's crypt
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Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in the interior stage space (2012)
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View of stage during the Edit-a-thon (2012)
See also
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References
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External links
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