Figueres: Salvador Dali Museum
One of the major reasons for this trip
Teatro-Museo Dali
The egg was a favorite symbol for Dali, representing life in the safe uterus, hope,
and love.
See more about his symbolism at
www.http://www.countyhallgallery.com/education/dali_symbols.htm
Len and I have
toured Dali exhibits
at this museum in
Figueres, at our own
Smithsonian in
Washington, in
Philadelphia at the
Museum of Art, and
at the Dali Museum
in St. Petersburg,
Florida. Best of all
was St. Petersburg!
It helped us
understand Dali's
crazy art and made
us appreciate it at
last!
Len didn't really
want his photo
taken, but here he
is, in front of Dali's
installation called
"Rainy Taxi." Inside
there's a female
mannequin driving
this Cadillac
convertible. Put a
euro in the slot, and
water begins falling
like rain INSIDE the
taxi! We told you Dali
was weird!
Here I am, beside
Dali's shadow box. I
liked the puzzled
expression on the
woman reflected in
the glass.
Someone
must have
paid a lot for
this and
thought it
was art!
It's easy to write Dali off as
a nut, but he was also a
talented painter. "The
difference between a
madman and me," he said,
"is that I am not mad." Dali
found a way to induce
hallucinations, which he
painted, along with his
dreams.
Dali's beloved wife,
Galatea, often
served as his model.
Some of his paintings
get graphic to the
point of
pornography, and are
really not at all
appealing. He
seemed preoccupied
with sex.

I, no longer
preoccupied with
sex, liked the soft
drink machine
outside the museum,
on the right. Notice
the painted drops of
condensation to
make you thirsty. It
was a hot day, and
we needed no
persuasion!
Dali's most famous painting,
"The Persistence of Memory,"
is not in Figueres, but in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. It will be on
display at the Dali Museum in
St. Petersburg, Florida, from
February 1 to June 1, 2008.
Back to the museum at Figueres...
Here's another
representation of
the egg (which
often appears
cracked in his art)
as the man's head.
Also note the cliffs
near Cadaques,
Catalonia, and the
Mediterranean in
the background,
which also
appeared in many of
his paintings.
Everything in the museum shop was
prohibitively expensive, when I
thought about what I would do with
the souvenirs when I got home. I was
tempted to buy a "softwatch," but I
didn't.