Dalí's Barcelona

Barcelona is often in the background when we think of Salvador Dalí, overshadowed by his association with Cadaqués or Figueres. However, the exhibition "Dalí's Barcelona. A photographic itinerary", which can be seen at the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona, invites you to rediscover a deeply rooted relationship between the surrealist genius and the Catalan capital. This exhibition, organized to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Dalí's birth, explores his personal and artistic links with the city and allows you to walk through an unknown Barcelona where Dalí lived.

The exhibition, available until Sunday 1 December, includes around 120 photographs, many of them the work of local photojournalists such as Postius, Sáenz Guerrero, Carlos Pérez de Rozas, Brangulí, Sans Condeminas, Català Roca and González Albiach . These images capture key moments of Dalí's life in Barcelona, from his first exhibition in the city in 1922 until well into the 1970s.

Barcelona represented a fundamental stage in Dalí's artistic career. Although the city does not have a street or square dedicated to his figure, his connection with Barcelona was deep and constant, from his childhood, marked by the Barcelona influence of his mother, Felipa Domènech, until its international recognition. Dalí saw Barcelona as the gateway to artistic glory. He was also a tireless defender of Gaudí's work, contributing to its worldwide dissemination through such prestigious magazines as Minotaure, Vogue, Flair or Paris Match. His articles and conferences placed Barcelona as one of the epicenters of modernism, with Gaudí as the central figure of this movement.

Dalí i Puig Palau a una cursa de braus.

Through a route that recreates the layout of the city, the exhibition takes us through the emblematic spaces linked to Dalí: from the Athenaeum to the Ritz Hotel, passing through the restaurants he used to frequent and the places he witnessed of his passion for football, braus and flamenco. These places, which were part of Dalí's daily and social life in Barcelona, take on a new dimension through the images, documents and manuscripts that accompany the exhibition.

Among these materials, unpublished manuscripts by Dalí and his great friend Federico García Lorca stand out, as well as posters, books, magazines and other documents from archives such as the Biblioteca de Catalunya and the JV Foix Foundation, which contextualize Dalí's life in Barcelona and offer a more intimate view of his figure.

Beyond the walls of the Diocesan Museum, the exhibition also offers a map with the key points of Dalí's relationship with the city, such as the Via Veneto Restaurant, where he often met with Gala and other personalities from the art world , surrounded by luxury and haute French cuisine. We also find the Saló Llongueras, where Dalí made a noisy entrance trying to break the glass with a hammer during the opening of the hall, marking the beginning of his friendship with Lluís Llongueras. In addition, spaces such as Park Güell and La Pedrera were regular settings for the artist, who found inspiration in Gaudí's work there. Other places include the Masia de Can Planes, the Modernist Precinct of Sant Pau and the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família, places that are part of this Dalinian Barcelona.

With 'Dalí's Barcelona', the Museu Diocesà makes it clear that Barcelona was a fundamental stage in the life and work of one of the most important artists of the 20th century.