The surrealness of the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres

Last updated July 5th, 2024

I never really considered myself to be much of an artsy, but when I visited Spain back in 2007, I discovered two Spanish artists whose works really resonated with me. This is a story of how I tagged along with my friend R on what I thought would be a random museum trip, but ended completely surprising myself by really liking the works of one Salvador Dali.

We took a train to Figueres in North-eastern Spain, Dali’s home town.Most people know Dali for his famous melting clock image:

But did you know that Dali has an entire museum dedicated to him? And as one of the leading surrealists, the museum is as bizarre as you might imagine. Behold, the eggs:

It turns out that  Dali Theatre-Museum is also the world’s largest surrealist object, so just visiting the museum is an experience in itself. What I learned about Dali is that he doesn’t just paint. Sculptures, architecture, mixed media and even kinetic jewellery (the beating heart brooch is… something) – everything was a form of art to him. And after awhile I realised that what I initially thought of as bizarre, unrelated and completely abstract or random actually was quite meaningful, even if expressed in a super surrealistic form.

I’m doing very poor justice to a really cool experience by trying to write about it and with my subpar pix, but trust me if you are ever near Figueres and whether or not you are really into art, the Salvador Dali Museum is worth a peek.

Wish you knew more about art? Fake it till you make it – here’s how to appreciate art when you know nothing about art and another game I like to play when I visit museums called Hypothetical Mansion