“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it”.
Salvador Dalí
On this Sunday, May 11, 2025, we celebrate the 121st anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest icons of 20th-century art: Salvador Dalí.
Born in Figueres, Catalonia, on May 11, 1904, Dalí was not just a painter, he was also a sculptor, designer, writer, filmmaker, and provocateur. He was a multifaceted genius who reshaped the rules of art by blending dreams and reality into a continuous, surreal universe.
“My name is Salvador – Savior – a sign that in a time of formidable technology and rampant mediocrity, I am called upon to save art from emptiness”, Dalí once declared.
More than a century after his birth, Salvador Dalí continues to captivate audiences worldwide with his boundless imagination and surreal legacy.
This is not only due to the power of his artwork but also thanks to the tireless efforts of institutions like the Dalí Universe, which for years has been dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the rich artistic legacy of the Catalan artist.
Led by Mr. Beniamino Levi, who played a pivotal role in encouraging Dalí to express his creativity in three dimensions, the Dalí Universe holds one of the world’s most significant collections of surrealist sculptures ideated by the Master of Surrealism.
Through international exhibitions and cultural events, the Dalí Universe keeps the artist’s legacy alive and sparks new curiosity in audiences of all ages. The Dalí Universe bronze sculptures, surreal furniture, graphic works, Daum glass, gold objects, and illustrated books reveal a three-dimensional Dalí, perhaps less known than the painter, but equally fascinating. These works allow us to explore his dreamlike vision through various media.
Dalí’s iconic face, with spiraling mustaches and wide, intense eyes, has become a symbol of 20th-century art. But behind the eccentric image was a brilliant mind that could transform the unconscious into visual form, depict absurdity with technical mastery, and turn madness into a universal language.
The work of the Dalí Universe is crucial because it goes beyond the public persona of the artist. It allows us to rediscover the vast range of his creative expression. In every Dalí Universe exhibition, Dalí is not only the painter of The Persistence of Memory, but also the sculptor who shaped melting time in bronze, and the designer who transformed everyday objects into surreal poetry and art.
Dalí didn’t just paint: he created a universe. And it’s precisely this universe that the Dalí Universe continues to share with the world today, honoring not only the artist but the visionary who transformed his life into a living work of art.
Salvador Dalí’s dreamlike world continues to live, travel, and inspire. “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it”, Dalí once said. Through his legacy, we will keep searching for it, just as he taught us to do.