GOODBYE DALI Part 8: Have You Ever Been to Spain? (#91D): Salvador Dalí (Dali) was born and died in Figueres, the home of The Dali Theatre and Museum. Salvador Dali was born in 1904, and was the second boy named Salvador in the family. His older brother, born in 1901, was also named Salvador, but died 9 months before our Salvador Dali was born. That might be enough to make anyone a bit odd. Dali was haunted by the idea of his dead brother throughout his life, as is evidenced by the Masterwork, “Portrait of my Dead Brother”, now part of the collection of the Salvador Dali Museum in St Petersburg.
A. Reynolds Morse (Ren) always said that Dali liked the idea that the original Dali Museum in St. Petersburg was somewhat plain, telling him, “It is good that the building does not outshine the art.”
Salvador Dali, however, went “full Dali” on his own museum in Figueres. The heart of The Dali Theatre and Museum is the town’s theatre that Dalí knew as a child, and where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dali’s art was shown. The theatre was burned during the Spanish Civil War and remained in ruins until the 1960s, when the city decided to rebuild it as a museum for Salvador Dali. The Museum opened in 1974 and has since expanded to include adjacent building and courtyards.
The glass geodesic dome over the stage of the old theatre was no doubt the inspiration for the glass “Enigma” attempting to ingest the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.
Thanks to Pascual we had a terrific behind the scenes tour.
