Salvador Dalí

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In Dalí’s work, the umbrella is a prime example of the Surrealist technique of challenging reality by reversing an object’s function or placing it in an unexpected, unsettling context. The very concept of the umbrella is paradoxical in its necessity: a functional form existing solely to counter a natural phenomenon.

This interrogation reached its peak in Dalí’s graphic works, such as the 1975-1976 lithograph “Anti-Umbrella with Atomized Liquid,” which is currently on display within the exhibition “1922 Comienzo: Salvador Dalí × The Bund City Hall” at the prestigious Bund City Hall, in Shanghai.

Part of Dalí’s visionary “Imaginations and Objects of the Future”, this work subverts its purpose entirely. The figure stands beneath an umbrella that, rather than shielding, appears to create rain, a literal reversal of logic that the Master of Surrealism used to explore his increasing interest in science, the atomic world, and the invisibility of matter.

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As Dalí himself famously said: “As a surrealist painter myself, I never have the slightest idea what my picture means, I merely transcribe my thoughts, and try to make concrete the most exasperating and fugitive visions, fantasies, whatever is mysterious, incomprehensible, personal and rare, that may pass through my head”.

The umbrella also features prominently in other works of print and drawing, such as the “Sewing Machine with Umbrellas in a Surrealist Landscape” (1941), coupling the domestic and the natural with characteristic Surrealist chaos. The object became a key to unlocking the absurd in the everyday.

The umbrella’s most iconic and defiant appearance is captured in the legendary photograph of Dalí at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The fair’s theme was “The World of Tomorrow”, a celebration of rational, sleek modernism. Dalí’s response was the deeply irrational and provocative “The Dream of Venus” Surrealist Pavilion. The famous image shows Dalí standing before the unfinished, “shapeless mountain” facade of the pavilion, holding an ordinary, black umbrella.

While the umbrella features primarily as an object of ready-made intervention and two-dimensional work, as seen in the 1970 engraving “Under the Umbrella Pine”, its conceptual role in Dalí’s oeuvre is monumental.

It represents the Master’s insistence on elevating the banal to the poetic, transforming a rain guard into a symbol of neurosis, contradiction, and the relentless downpour of the subconscious mind. The umbrella is a perfect encapsulation of Dalí’s mission: to destroy the “shackles limiting our vision” and celebrate the “violence and duration of your hardened dream”.

The image of the umbrella was not just a prop for Salvador Dalí, but a certified symbol that he formalised in the Surrealist lexicon.

Dalí included a definition for the umbrella in his entry for the “Short Dictionary of Surrealism” (1938), linking it directly to his complex philosophical framework and his iconic use of the crutch (or support). He defined the umbrella as: “Wooden support derived from Cartesian philosophy. Generally used to serve as support for the tenderness of soft structures.”

For Dalí, the umbrella’s handle serves as a rigid and rational support, holding up the soft, vulnerable, and imaginative material it is meant to protect. Just like the images of the lobster and the snail, the image of the umbrella also illustrates the pairing of the hard and the soft that Dalí loved.

In his autobiography, “The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí”,the Catalan artist openly declared his creative passion for the futuristic and provocative by listing his legendary “Symbolically Functioning Objects,” which he defined as a “total war against the functional logic of the bourgeois world”.

The Master of Surrealism announced his list of desired inventions, among which appeared the umbrella, described as an object of pure, eccentric pleasure: “An umbrella that squirts a mist of tanning moisturizer, perfect for bikini-clad girls at the beach at St. Tropez.”

The long list also included “A chair that comes up when one wishes to sit down,” “A motor which would run solely on the milk of a goat,” and “A cup of coffee with a detachable moustache” .This was not simply a list of fantasies but rather an aesthetic universe, where functional uselessness is elevated to beauty, and where the object ceases to serve reality in order to satisfy the sole, pure irrational desire.

The image of the umbrella continues to inspire artists, sculptors, and designers even today, who include this surreal object in their works and projects. A striking example is offered by the d’Arenberg Cube in Adelaide, which houses a selection from the Dalí Universe Collection inside.

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The Cube’s extraordinary architecture, which already challenges the functional logic of traditional design, is crowned by a spectacular installation: 16 large umbrellas, 15 of which are black and one red, are installed on the building’s roof, which adds an artistic and surreal touch to the entire building, in addition to their function of providing shade.

Dalí would describe them as the “support derived from Cartesian philosophy” that must sustain the dream, a constant reminder that reality is mutable, and that the most banal object can be transformed into the most provocative symbol of the subconscious, celebrating the only true defense against the rain of rationality: the irrational.

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Salvador Dalí

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Shanghai, the global metropolis whose very essence is a dynamic marriage of modernity and ambition, plays host to the spectacular Dalí Universe Collection in an art exhibition that is at once a magnificent return and a provocative new beginning.

A decade after the historic exhibition that established a significant benchmark for Surrealist art in Asia, the Dalí Universe triumphantly returns to The Bund to captivate the Chinese public. This new exhibition offers an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the very depths of the Master of Surrealism, Salvador Dalí.

The prestigious Bund City Hall, an architectural jewel located at 200 Fuzhou Rd, Shanghai, beautifully evokes the city’s historical grandeur. For this extraordinary event, it has been transformed into a surreal stage to house the exhibition: “1922 Comienzo: Salvador Dalí × The Bund City Hall.”

The exhibition opened its doors on Tuesday, November 11th, 2025, and will remain open until March 10th, 2026.

The exhibition transcends a mere retrospective; it is a profound celebration of the concepts of “beginning” (comienzo) and “discovery.” The title itself, “1922 Comienzo”, establishes a fascinating parallelism: 1922 marks the year the majestic Bund City Hall building was inaugurated, and simultaneously, it was the very moment Salvador Dalí took his first, disruptive steps toward the career that would render him a legend.

This return to The Bund is particularly significant. In 2015, the city of Shanghai hosted the exhibition “Dalí’s Fantastic Universe” at Bund 18, where a substantial part of the Dalí Universe Collection was first unveiled to the Asian public. This event successfully consolidated a powerful link between the Surrealist imagination and China’s vibrant artistic scene.

Today, the “1922 Comienzo” exhibition picks up that vital artistic thread started in 2015, elevating the experience to a superior level of immersion and curatorial context. It boldly reinforces the Dalí Universe mission: to make the third dimension of the Master of Surrealism accessible within architectural settings of high historical and symbolic value.

The exhibition showcases an exceptional corpus of over 150 authentic works, highlighting the extraordinary artistic multifacetedness of Dalí.

“1922 Comienzo” exhibit pushes beyond painting to celebrate the Catalan artist as a sculptor, designer, illustrator, and jeweller, presenting bronzes, prints, furniture, glass works, illustrations, and even dresses, with several pieces being exhibited in China for the very first time.

The beating heart of the exhibition is represented by the iconic sculptures from the Dalí Universe Collection, particularly those dedicated to Time, Dalí’s great obsession.

The Monumental Sculpture Horse Saddled with Time stands as a genuine manifesto of relativity, where time, in the form of the melting clock, tames the force of reality and becomes the saddle upon an exquisitely Dalinian horse.

The Monumental Sculpture Dance of Time I captures the eternal and illusory movement of time itself with an absolutely Surrealist dynamism, transforming it into a perpetually dancing image.

Among the Museum Size Sculptures, the exhibition proudly presents the bronzes Giraffe Woman and Woman Aflame, artworks that explore the powerful symbology of drawers and fire, acting as keys to unlocking the feminine subconscious.

From the Smaller Museum Sculptures, Swan Elephant is a masterful example of the Paranoiac-Critical Method invented by Dalí, where two distinct images coexist in a single form. Meanwhile, Rhinocéros Habillé en Dentelles, which unites the geometric power of the rhinoceros with the capricious elegance of lace, evokes Dalí’s profound love for divine geometry.

The exhibition also features a dazzling array of Surrealist Furniture belonging to the Dalí Universe Collection, including the captivating Bracelli Lamp and the Leda Low Table, which brilliantly transform functional furniture into pure sculpture.

The dedicated Glass Section presents a selection of works Dalí created in 1968 in collaboration with the prestigious French glass-making company, Daum Cristallerie. This section offers the exhibition audience one of the world’s most interesting collections of colour-glass sculpture, including masterpieces like Venus aux Tiroirs and Oeil de Paques.

The exhibition also features the works comprising the “Dalí d’Or” coin collection from the Dalí Universe, a collection of gold coins Salvador Dalí created in the 1960s. Among these golden treasures, the public can admire Dalí Flower and Glorious Sun.

The entire exhibition is an explicit invitation to know the Surrealist Dalí through the unique works belonging to the Dalí Universe Collection.

To ensure an unforgettable experience, “1922 Comienzo” exhibition offers a museum itinerary enriched by magnificent set designs that enhance the exhibited works. These installations interact seamlessly with the art and the historic architecture of the City Hall, forging an unexpected synergy and transforming the visit into a journey of inner, surreal, and thoroughly Dalinian discovery.

Ten years on, by returning to The Bund, the Dalí Universe reaffirms a fundamental principle of art: the true beginning is never a fixed point in time, but the incessant capacity to dream a reality that is continuously renewed, reborn, and evolving to be explored; yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

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“The secret of my influence has always been that it remained secret”.

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí

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One month after its inauguration on October 10th, the Galeries Bartoux Venice has asserted itself as an essential new cultural hub in the city of Venice.

This opening marks the official debut of the Galeries Bartoux group’s first Italian headquarters, a major achievement in bringing the “Bartoux Experience” to La Serenissima.

Housed in a breathtaking 1.200 square-meter space obtained through the meticulous, two-year restoration of the former Accademia Cinema and the adjacent Scarpa antique shop, the gallery is a triumph of architectural preservation and modern vision.

Titled “Dalí è Venezia”, the exhibition is realised in collaboration with Dalí Universe and features a significant selection of artworks from the Dalí Universe Collection complemented by the immersive film re-imagining Venice through Dalí’s eye.

The presence of the Dalí Universe Collection is a definitive statement about the gallery’s philosophical vision. Dalí, who adored Italy and famously argued that the path forward for art was to “return to Classicism” and affirm an “aesthetic faith”, is perfectly positioned here.

Dalí viewed the Renaissance masters as products of a “technique now disappeared”, the only reply to the “incapacity to observe things” that he saw affecting post-war artists.

This pursuit of technique and divine proportion is manifest in the imposing bronzes that command the space of the art gallery:

The mighty Space Elephant (2 metres in height) has spindly, near-invisible legs, symbols of lightness and conquest, and seems to defy gravity, striding across the centuries.

The figures of Adam and Eve (2 metres tall) and Saint George and the Dragon (1.5 metres tall) anchor the monumental exhibit in myth and religious narrative.

A particular highlight is the pairing of the equestrian figures, Surrealist Warrior (1.70 metres in height) and Lady Godiva with Butterflies (2 metres tall). This juxtaposition allows the public to examine Dalí’s profound fascination with the horse, a figure he studied extensively, notably through the drawings and works of Leonardo da Vinci.

The Surrealist Warrior, inspired by the Sun King Louis XIV, stands arrested in a victory salute; its spiritual dimension revealed by a striking window of light piercing the chest, a profound metaphor for the Catalan artist’s belief that “heaven could be found in the heart of the man who believes”.

Beside him, Lady Godiva with Butterflies is transformed into a vision of liberated femininity. Her body is adorned with four fluttering butterflies, powerful Dalinian symbols of the soul, infinite transformations, and rebirth.

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The limited edition of the Dalí Universe Collection provides an intimate counterpoint to the museal works, featuring exquisite bronze pieces like Woman of Time, Triumphant Angel, and Homage to Fashion.

Among these artworks, the sculpture that immediately captures the visitor’s attention is the Space Venus, Dalí’s homage to the female figure. This iconic sculpture, adorned with a soft watch, ants, and an egg, takes on an ethereal quality due to its distinctive blue patina.

Chosen to perfectly integrate with the colours and atmospheres of the Venetian lagoon, the Space Venus offers a beautiful, living connection to the city. Its soft watch, draped over the torso, delivers Dalí’s dual message: “The beauty of the flesh is temporary and will vanish, while beauty of art is timeless and eternal”.

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Dalí’s love for Italy was profound. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that, without this direct contact with Italy, Dalí’s art would have been different.

The exhibition “Dalí è Venezia” offers a unique opportunity to fall in love with a Dalí in a distinctly Venetian guise, an ardent admirer of Italian culture, the Renaissance, and Classicism. The exhibition reveals the multi-faceted nature of his personality and his fervent desire to be “the first fore-precursor of a new Renaissance!”

Still today, the works of the Master of Surrealism continue to amaze, inspire, and fascinate everyone who stops to look.

The exhibition “Dalí è Venezia” at the Galeries Bartoux Venice is an event that invites visitors to fully appreciate the complex and masterful personality of one of the greatest visionaries of the 20th century.

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GALERIES BARTOUX IN VENICE

https://www.galeries-bartoux.com/en/galeries-bartoux-in-venice/

Cover image: https://www.galeries-bartoux.com/en/venise-galeries-bartoux-reveille-lame-du-cinema-de-laccademia/

Pablo Picasso

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This week, the Dalí Universe celebrates the anniversary of the birth of Pablo Picasso, who was born on October 25, 1881, in Málaga, on Spain’s sun-drenched southern coast near Gibraltar.

Born to a painter and art professor, José Ruiz Blanco, and homemaker Dona Maria, Picasso’s creative destiny was ingrained in his Andalusian roots, destined to reshape the visual lexicon of the 20th century.

Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso stand, irrefutably, as two of the most significant and transformative forces in modern art. Their complex personal and profound artistic kinship is meticulously documented across the history of Surrealism.

When the young Dalí first travelled to Paris in 1926, his initial and most urgent desire was not to see the masterpieces of the Louvre, but to meet the celebrated Andalusian master himself.

In his legendary autobiography “The Secret Life Of Salvador Dalí”, the Catalan genius recounted that momentous first visit to Picasso’s studio, where the artist was preparing for his inaugural major solo exhibition.

Dalí, upon meeting Picasso, delivered a bold declaration that perfectly captured his mindset: “I have come to see you before visiting the Louvre.” To these words, Picasso, recognising the sheer audacity and devotion of the young man, is said to have replied: “You’re quite right”.

This meeting was the genesis of a connection that defined their careers, forging a rivalry imbued with mutual respect. As Dalí, with characteristic audacity, once proclaimed: “The two greatest disasters to hit Spain, after Philip II, were Picasso and myself.”

Beyond their contrasting temperaments, Picasso’s earthbound energy versus Dalí’s cosmic obsession, the two shared a fundamental mastery of form and a reverence for Classicism.

Dalí himself delved deeply into the mechanics of Cubism during the 1920s, a phase powerfully evidenced in works like his 1923 “Cubist Self-Portrait.”

This shared exploration of structure and dimension is especially apparent in their bronze work. Dalí’s sculpture, such as “Homage to Terpsichore”, exemplifies this blending of styles.

The twin dancing figures create a powerful, deconstructed composition, merging classical elegance with the abstract geometries of Cubist influence.

For both artists, sculpture provided the ultimate laboratory to test the limits of their painted visions. Their bronze creations seem to leap directly from the subconscious of their canvases, inhabiting a startling new dimension.

As Picasso himself once stated: “Sculpture is the best comment a painter can make about painting.”

Through their monumental and limited-edition sculptures, both Dalí and Picasso successfully constructed an enduring bridge between the flat plane of two-dimensionality and the immersive reality of the third, generating an “all-round emotion” that continues to captivate and challenge observers today.

In an era where the very perception of reality is increasingly fluid and elusive, Dalí Paris announced the opening of an exhibition that creates a bridge between 20th-century Art and new artistic expressions.

The exhibition “Illusions Croisées” (Crossed Illusions), inaugurated on Friday, October 10, 2025, is an encounter between Salvador Dalí, the Master of Surrealism, and Patrick Rubinstein, the French pioneer of Kinetic Pop Art.

Running until January 30, 2026, in the heart of Montmartre, the permanent Dalí Paris museum, home to the largest private collection of Dalinian works, opens its doors to the optical and luminous language of a contemporary artist whose work extends and amplifies the surrealist visions of the Catalan genius.

This is far more than a simple homage; it is a true artistic duet that invites every visitor to question the immutability of images and the very nature of reality.

What connection can exist between Dalí’s dreamlike bronzes and visionary lithographs, and the optical vertigo generated by Rubinstein’s kinetic slats? The answer lies in a profound, shared fascination with illusion and the transformative power of perception.

Salvador Dalí was a tireless explorer of double images, anamorphoses, and visual enigmas, methods through which he sought to access the unconscious, transforming reality into a boundless mental landscape. His celebrated “Paranoiac-Critical Method” was the ultimate instrument: a tool to make the invisible visible, to layer meanings, and to unveil the latent obsession beneath the apparent form.

Patrick Rubinstein, born decades later, embraces this complex legacy and projects it into the future. Through his innovative techniques, the French artist creates striking works that literally metamorphose and break down into different figurations depending on the spectator’s angle of observation. His kinetic and luminous art compels the visitor to move, to dance around the artwork, to complete its meaning.

In this dynamic exchange, the observer becomes an active participant. For both artists, the experience of the work is inherently participatory; the observer becomes the co-creator of the illusion.

As the Master himself loved to declare: “I am Surrealism”; with the Illusions Croisées exhibition, the Dalí Universe suggests that this essential spirit is not confined to the past, but exists and evolves in the present, finding new life in Rubinstein’s visionary interactivity.

The exhibition is conceived as an immersive, thematic journey where Dalinian icons confront Rubinstein’s vibrant Pop reinterpretations. Both artists share a universe of obsessions which, although expressed with distinct contemporary and classic languages, converge around the fundamental concepts of time and its fluidity, femininity, metamorphosis, and symbolism.

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No theme is more Dalinian or universally recognisable than melted time. Dalí’s bronze sculptures depicting the soft watches, symbols of the relativity of time, are juxtaposed with the kinetic works Rubinstein created.

In these creations, time is not merely fused; it breaks down, reflects, and multiplies in optical sequences that underscore its elusive and non-linear aspect. Dalí declared: “Time is one of the few important things that remain to us”. Rubinstein, with his sheer dynamism, renders it a truly intangible and mutable entity.

The figure of the woman, muse, enigma, and obsession, is central to the iconography of both artists, from the “Space Venus” conceived by Dalí, concealing Freudian secrets and anatomical drawers, to Rubinstein’s colourful female figures inspired by Pop Culture.

Angels, mythical figures, and the butterfly are shared messengers of transformation. For Dalí, the butterfly represents the metamorphosis, the lightness of the dream, and the freedom of the unconscious, while for Rubinstein, omnipresent in his canvases, it symbolizes the impermanence of the image itself and the continuous possibility of visual rebirth.

Through a scenography that dramatically enhances the play of light and perspectives, the “Illusions Croisées” exhibition is more than a mere display; it is a hypnagogic experience that seamlessly merges the surreal dimension with the kinetic.

Dalí’s bronze sculptures, rich in symbolism and classical mastery, engage in a powerful dialogue with the modern polychromy and movement effect of Rubinstein’s art, creating a startling tête-à-tête that completely disorients our points of reference.

Dalí is not merely an artist of the past, but a visionary whose message continues to resonate powerfully in the future, as he himself declared: “More than anything, I remember the future.”

The “Illusions Croisées” exhibition at Dalí Paris will be open to the public until Friday, January 30, 2026.

Salvador Dalí

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October 12th marked the date of birth, in 1901, of the first son of Salvador Dalí Cusí and Felipa Domènech Ferrés, a child also christened Salvador Dalí, but destined to die prematurely from meningitis.

That boy is the keystone, the archetypal phantom whose shadow was cast over the cradle of the second Salvador Dalí, the Catalan genius born less than nine months after his death, on May 11th, 1904.

His brief existence was not a mere memory, but the psychological wound that shaped the entire body of work of the Master of Surrealism, making him forever the eternal substitute, the “double” destined to overcome the “first version conceived too much in the absolute”, as Dalí himself affirmed.

The identity of Salvador Dalí, the artist, was constructed upon the shade of his predecessor. The parents’ decision to bestow the same name upon the child born post-mortem was, for the artist, a gesture of devastating psychological intensity, feeding a sense of substitution that would haunt him for life.

This was not a simple homage, but a genuine “Dalinian dynastic question” that placed him as “a substitute of the first Salvador”, as noted by the art historian Joan Sureda.

The looming presence of the dead brother generated profound anxieties and obsessions in the young Salvador, marking his childhood and his art. The Master of Surrealism himself lucidly described the trauma.

In 1950, a psychoanalytical thesis on the “dioscuric myth of Dalí” by a friend, Dr. Pierre Rouméguère, struck the artist with the force of a revelation. Dalí recalled the moment as a violent shock:

“The question was settled on June 5, 1950, the day our mutual friend, Dr. Pierre Rouméguère read me his thesis on the dioscuric myth of Dali”, said Salvador Dalí, “For the first time in my life, amid incomparable thrills, I felt the absolute truth: a psy-choanalytical thesis revealed the sensational conflict at the basis of my tragic structure: the ineluctable presence, deep within me, of my dead brother, whom my parents had been so fond of that when I was born they gave me his name, Salvador. My shock at the doctor’s disclosure was as violent as at a revelation”.

This dynamic of co-existence and antagonism between the two Salvadors became a key for interpreting his art. The artist constantly felt himself measured against the idealised image of his brother.

“I managed to drop off to sleep only at the thought of my own death and by accepting the idea of lying at rest inside the coffin”, declared Salvador Dalí.

This obsession with the first Salvador justifies the artist’s fascination with decay and putrefaction, as seen in the images of rotting donkeys and the iconography reflecting his phobia of grasshoppers; and his continuous investigation into the processes of time and matter transformation, central themes in the sculptures of the Dalí Universe collection, exemplified by bronzes like the Dance of Time and the Persistence of Memory.

The inner struggle between the “first Salvador”, a terrestrial, idealised being, and the “second Salvador”, the genius and Master of Surrealism destined for immortality, was an incessant creative engine. Dalí did not merely submit to this conflict; he transformed it, sublimated it, and ultimately, exorcised it through his work.

Dalí himself provided one of the most penetrating definitions of this mystical, twin-like bond: “My brother and I resembled each other like two drops of water, but we had different reflections.” […] “He was probably a first version of myself but conceived too much in the absolute”, Dalí declared.

This duality was immortalised in one of his most iconic works, “Portrait of My Dead Brother” (1963). In this masterpiece, Dalí uses a striking pointillist technique, also echoing the aesthetics of Pop Art, to compose a single face: “The cherries represent the molecules, the dark cherries create the visage of my dead brother, the sun-lighted cherries create the image of Salvador living”, said Dalí.

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The portrait is not just a tribute, but an act of fusion and separation, in which the two Salvadors coexist and annihilate each other, united by a single molecule at the center of the nose, a symbol of the indissoluble bond and the struggle for identity. Dalí, with his unparalleled theatricality, asserted that he had to constantly assassinate the image of his brother: “Every day, I kill the image of my poor brother […] I assassinate him regularly, for the ‘Divine Dali’ cannot have anything in common with this former terrestrial being”.

The figure of the dead brother, far from being just a family memory, is a foundational element of his “Paranoiac-Critical Method”, a mechanism for accessing the subconscious and generating “irrational knowledge”. It is, in essence, the tragic foundation upon which the genius erected his entire existence.

On October 12th, the anniversary of the first Salvador’s birth, we do not merely celebrate a date, but the psychological crucible from which the unique, inimitable, and second Salvador Dalí emerged, the Master of Surrealism, who transformed his deepest trauma into one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century.

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“The only thing that counts is images. I only care for the sum of information contained in old masters, … One of the least questionable paintings I know, Velázquez’s Las Meniñas, provided me with a cascade of astounding information. As for the spirit of this work, it accurately reproduces an epoch, and that’s why I take off my hat to it. The people depicted offer me information of an incredible precision and I feel I know the painting down to the smell inhabiting the Infanta’s house. Velázquez also teaches me something about light, reflections, and mirrors—and he teaches me a lot more than whole scientific volumes. His work is an inexhaustible treasure hoard of computation and exact data”.

Salvador Dalí

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Dalí’s three favourite painters were Raphael, Vermeer, and Velázquez. Salvador Dalí’s admiration for Diego Velázquez was solidified by Velázquez’s masterpiece “Las Meninas”, painted in 1656, which is one of the most celebrated works of the Spanish Baroque.

Salvador Dalí frequently visited the painting and, tipping his hat, would simply say: “I’m content to say that the painting is sublime and beautiful.”

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According to Dalí, art history would have followed a very different path without Velázquez’s influence. The Catalan artist famously stated: “Without Velázquez and the painters imitating him, and without the Prado Museum, neither Monet nor Manet would have existed. The same phenomenon repeated itself: there would have been no cubism without Juan Gris and Picasso.”

In “Twist en el estudio de Velázquez” (1962), Salvador Dalí sought to capture and amplify the emotions and sensations he felt while observing and admiring Velázquez’s “Las Meninas”.

Salvador Dalí aimed to look beyond the painting, to observe what could not be seen at first glance, using his self-developed method, the “paranoiac-critical method”, which he described as: “a spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based on the interpretative-critical association of delirium phenomena”.

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The painting “Twist en el estudio de Velázquez” is a clear example of Dalí’s extraordinary ability to transfer his obsessions and elements of popular culture into art according to a Dalinian, paranoiac, and hallucinatory logic.

On the left side of the painting, Dalí pays homage to Diego Velázquez by illustrating his personal vision of “Retrato del Cardinal-Infante Fernando de Austria” (1609). On the right, Dalí presents a detail from Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656). However, the center of the composition is dedicated to the Twist, the fast-paced dance popular in the 1960s.

Salvador Dalí had a fascination with dance, which played a prominent role in his life and extensive body of work. The theme of the Twist highlights Dalí’s passion for dance, a passion that began in his childhood due to the influence of his father, Salvador Dalí y Cusí, a lawyer and notary with a love for music and dance. He loved the Sardana, a Catalan dance symbolising unity and pride, and he passed this interest on to his son, who incorporated dance as a source of inspiration in his art.

Salvador Dalí once said: “When I wake up, I see the dancers jumping in my mind. As I focus on the image, I draw them before they disappear”.

In the masterpiece “Twist en el estudio de Velázquez”, the Catalan Master breaks down the dancing human figure into flat, schematic planes, illustrating movement with a surreal perspective that allows the viewer to perceive unexpected, fresh, and distinctly Dalinian images.

The group of human figures, depicted as crumpled and folded cards, transforms the painting into a celebration of movement and dance. This same concept was later used by Dalí in the creation of his sculpture “Dalinian Dancer”, which emphasizes Dalí’s passion for flamenco, demonstrating how dance could stimulate the artist’s mind and fuel his creative development.

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Through “Twist en el estudio de Velázquez”, Dalí reveals his profound admiration for the leading artist of the Spanish Baroque, Diego Velázquez, his passion for dance, and his desire to incorporate the popular Twist dance into art through his “paranoiac-critical method”.

In this sense, this masterpiece is certainly a key work for understanding Dalí’s universe, his vision, and his incredible ability to take the real and everyday world and channel it into a surreal one, made up of entirely different images, characteristic of Dalí’s unique universe.

Salvador Dalí

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Dalí Universe is proud to announce its ongoing collaboration with the Gormleys Fine Art Gallery for an exhibition that promises an unforgettable cultural experience.

On Sunday, September 14th, 2025, the enchanting Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare, in the picturesque county of Kerry, Ireland, opened its doors to a one-of-a-kind sculpture exhibition entitled “Art at the Falls”.

In a fusion of luxury and unspoiled nature, the lodge’s 300-acre estate has been transformed into an “open-air” and indoor gallery, where artworks engage in a dialogue with the breathtaking landscape, nestled between the serene Sheen River and the majestic mountains of Kenmare Bay.

It’s an experience that awakens the senses and invites every visitor to experience art in a highly evocative and almost theatrical context.

The renowned Gormleys Art Gallery, known worldwide for its excellence and the success of its exhibitions across Ireland, is presenting a unique collection that unites great artists from art history under one sky.

“We are extremely excited to bring this intimate yet monumental art experience to Sheen Falls Lodge” said Oliver Gormley of Gormleys, highlighting the uniqueness of this exhibition in Kenmare.

“Art at the Falls” is not just an exhibition; it is a journey through artistic eras and movements. Visitors can admire up close sculptures and works by icons of the art world, including Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Salvador Dalí thanks to the presence of a selection of sculptures from the Dalí Universe Collection.

Alongside these Masters of art, the exhibition features a vibrant array of celebrated Irish artists, creating “a bridge” between modern and contemporary artists.

A highlight of this exhibition is the debut of a new collection of sculptures by Liam O’Neill, one of Ireland’s most acclaimed artists. His work adds a deeply local and resonant dimension to the “Art at the Falls” exhibition, offering a unique experience rooted in Irish cultural heritage.

“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams”, said Salvador Dalí.

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This concept is brought to life by Patrick Rubinstein, whose captivating optical illusions add a touch of magic to the exhibition. His works distort our perception, creating a fascinating dialogue with the Salvador Dalí’sbronzes on display; sculptures that narrate Dalí’s thoughts, dreams, and illusions through the bronze.

The exhibition invites visitors to explore art “en plein air”, where life-size sculptures are strategically positioned, blending with the natural environment.

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It’s an opportunity to experience art in a new way, a total immersion where the beauty of the landscape amplifies the beauty of the works. Inside the lodge, the spaces are transformed into intimate art lounges, where each piece tells a story.

To further enrich the experience, a program of artist talks and guided tours is planned. These moments will offer participants the opportunity to delve into the creative process behind the works, to question the artists about their inspirations, and to discover the secrets of their art.

A special event, the “Art Appreciation Dinner” was held on Tuesday, September 16th, offering an evening of refinement with a three-course dinner, paired wines, and the chance to speak with artists Liam O’Neill, John Redmond, Jenny Belton, and Patrick O’Reilly.

“Sheen Falls Lodge, already a destination where luxury meets nature, heritage, and history, will now add fine art to its offerings, creating an unforgettable cultural experience for guests and visitors”, said Brian Loughnane, General Manager of Sheen Falls Lodge.

“We are thrilled that Salvador Dalí’s sculptures are an integral part of this unique and evocative exhibition, which aims to stimulate the mind and transport every visitor into the realm of imagination, placing contemporary art alongside that of the Master of Surrealism, Salvador Dalí”, adds James Sanders, Project Manager of the Dalí Universe.

The “Art at the Falls” exhibition will be open to the public until Sunday, October 12th, 2025.

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Gala Dalí

In the surrealist world of Salvador Dalí, few figures shine as brightly and as mystically as Gala.  Known to the world as Dalí’s wife, muse, and collaborator, Gala was the central star around which Dalí’s entire universe revolved.

As we celebrate her birthday this week, we delve into the extraordinary story of the woman who was not only Dalí’s muse but also his manager, his saviour, and his eternal obsession.

Born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova in Kazan, Russia, on September 7th, 1894, Gala was a woman of immense intellectual and personal magnetism. Before meeting Dalí, she was a central figure in the Parisian Surrealist movement, inspiring poets and artists alike, including her first husband, Paul Éluard, and the painter Max Ernst. But it was in the summer of 1929, when she was invited with Éluard to Dalí’s home in Cadaqués, Spain, that her destiny was irrevocably changed.

Savador Dalí, a young, tormented artist, was immediately captivated by her. For him, it was love at first sight so profound that he saw in her not just a lover, but a divine mother figure, a spiritual partner who could guide him out of his inner turmoil.

The Catalan artist was so completely enthralled that he wrote: “She was destined to be my Gradiva, the one who advances, my victory, my wife”. This meeting marked the beginning of a legendary union that would define the rest of his life and career.

Gala was the pragmatic force behind Dalí’s explosive genius. She organized his life, managed his finances, and tirelessly promoted his work, fiercely negotiating with gallery owners and collectors.

It was she who saw the potential for a global phenomenon and pushed him to pursue fame and fortune in America. Dalí himself famously acknowledged her influence, declaring: “It is mostly with your blood, Gala, that I paint my pictures”.

The anecdotes of their life together are as surreal as Dalí’s paintings. Gala was a formidable woman, often perceived as domineering and even tyrannical by some in their circle, but to Dalí, she was his queen.

Their relationship, while unique and at times unconventional, was a symbiotic masterpiece. Dalí famously stated that he loved her so much he would “polish Gala to make her shine, make her the happiest possible, caring for her more than myself, because without her, it would all end”.

The depths of his devotion were also expressed through art. The Master of Surrealism painted her hundreds of times, casting her in the most powerful roles, from the Virgin Mary in The Madonna of Port Lligat, to “My Wife, Nude, Contemplating her own flesh becoming Stairs, Three Vertebrae of a Column, Sky and Architecture”, and as the central figure in Galatea of the Spheres.

Dalí even began signing his works with both their names, “Dalí-Gala”, as a testament to their inseparable creative partnership. This was more than a gesture; it was a profound acknowledgement that his art was not his alone, but a product of their shared existence.

In 1968, Dalí cemented his love and gratitude by purchasing the castle of Púbol for Gala, a medieval fortress that became her private sanctuary. He could only visit with her written permission, a symbolic gesture that underscored his reverence for her independence and privacy.

After her death in 1982, Dalí was inconsolable. He moved into the castle, refusing to leave and falling into a deep depression, which marked the final, tragic phase of his life.

Gala’s legacy is undeniable. She was the one who gave the world Salvador Dalí as we know him, the one who transformed a brilliant but fragile young man into one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century.

Her ambition, her business intelligence, and her unwavering faith in his genius were the foundation of his success. The story of Dalí and Gala is not just a love story; it is the story of two singular souls who, together, created an artistic universe that continues to fascinate and inspire.

“Gala became the salt of my life, my lighthouse, my double, myself”.

Salvador Dalí

Cover image: Gala and Salvador Dalí, c. 1933, © Fundació Gala – Salvador Dalí.

Alfred Hitchcock

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This year marks the 80th anniversary of the release of Spellbound (1945), the iconic film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that changed the way surrealism and cinema could work together.

At the heart of this groundbreaking collaboration was Salvador Dalí, the Master of Surrealism, who brought his dreamlike imagination to the big screen and created a dream sequence that became a landmark in film history.

In 1945, Hitchcock was searching for a way to visually portray dreams in his psychological thriller Spellbound, which explored themes of psychoanalysis and amnesia.

Convinced that no artist could capture the essence of dreams quite like Dalí, he asked him to design a dream sequence that would be as fascinating as it was unsettling. Dalí accepted with enthusiasm, bringing his unique surrealist vision directly to the film set.

The result was a spectacular dream sequence that has become an integral part of Hollywood history. Dalí, created a cinematic moment that vividly illustrated the elusive nature of the subconscious, where reality blends with repressed thoughts and the hidden workings of the mind. One of his monumental paintings served as the background for the dream sequence in Spellbound.

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Originally lasting around 20 minutes, the dream scene was eventually cut down to just two minutes in the final version of the film. Yet those two minutes left an unforgettable impact: distorted landscapes, endless eyes, masked figures, and surreal architectural elements created a haunting atmosphere that transported viewers into an entirely different reality. It became one of the most iconic moments of the film and a powerful example of how art can deeply influence the language of cinema.

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Dalí didn’t stop at preliminary sketches. He meticulously planned every detail of the scene, combining architectural perspectives with symbolic elements inspired by psychoanalysis. The dream included bizarre and unforgettable visuals, masked men playing cards in a casino, walls covered in staring eyes, and roots growing out of a fireplace.

Through a monumental painting, measuring 5 by 11 meters, Dalí brought to life the dreamlike state of the unconscious, where hidden emotions and symbols take shape. The artwork, created on two separate canvases (each 5.2 x 5.75 meters), was mounted on wooden frames, allowing it to be displayed together or individually.

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A fascinating aspect of Dalí’s creative process for Spellbound was his use of long, exaggerated perspectives and sharp shadows, distinctive features of his style. Hitchcock admired these choices, later explaining that Dalí had a unique way of capturing the “vividness of dreams”, unlike anything seen before in cinema.

“I could have chosen De Chirico or Ernst”, Hitchcock said in an interview, “but none were as imaginative and extravagant as Dalí. I wanted Dalí because of the architectural sharpness of his work”.

Gala, Dalí’s wife and muse, also played an important role in the creation of the Spellbound scene. While she wasn’t directly involved in the design, her constant presence and emotional support helped Dalí fully immerse himself in the project.

The partnership between Hitchcock and Dalí didn’t just enrich the film visually, it became a symbolic meeting point between surrealism and cinema. The dream sequence in Spellbound remains a brilliant example of how art can transform film into a sensory experience that goes beyond time.

Dalí was the perfect artist for this project. He had a deep interest in psychoanalysis, had carefully studied Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), and had even met Freud in London in 1938, an encounter that left a lasting impression on his work.

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Beyond its cinematic debut, the Spellbound painting has traveled the world. It was exhibited in Los Angeles at Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Today, the artwork is part of the Dalí Universe collection and continues to be displayed in exhibitions worldwide, allowing visitors to admire this extraordinary piece of art.

Most recently, in April 2024, the monumental painting gave its name to the exhibition “Dalí: Spellbound – The Exhibition”, held at the Old Philharmonic Hall in Munich. The exhibition offered visitors the rare opportunity to see the Spellbound painting alongside some of the most important works from the Dalí Universe collection, including the monumental sculptures The Persistence of Memory and Rhinocéros Cosmique.

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Even 80 years later, the influence of Dalí’s work in Spellbound remains strong. This visionary film continues to inspire artists, filmmakers, and dreamers around the world. It’s a powerful reminder of Dalí’s extraordinary ability to see beyond reality and translate the invisible into unforgettable images.

Salvador Dalí’s unique vision showed us that art knows no limits; it can cross into different worlds, touch every creative field, and enrich them with imagination, emotion, and depth.