{"id":58837,"date":"2015-12-05T13:56:39","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T12:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=58837"},"modified":"2021-05-02T13:09:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T11:09:08","slug":"dali-and-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-and-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Dal\u00ed and Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The relationship between Dal\u00ed and the city of Barcelona has always been controversial and difficult. Although in love with Cadaqu\u00e9s and La Costa Brava, he spent an important part of his life in Barcelona. Often polemical in his actions and statements, many intellectuals from the city didn\u2019t sympathise with him. Even now, many years after his death, Barcelona doesn\u2019t have a street or a square named after him, something quite meaningful. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ShBarcelona<\/a> we explore these contradictions and find the places in the city where he spent time while he was around.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-5\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-5\"><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-5\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-5\"><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-5\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-5\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-and-barcelona\/#Related_article_The_Dali_Museum_in_Figueres_a_must\" title=\"Related article:\u00a0The Dali Museum in Figueres, a must\">Related article:\u00a0The Dali Museum in Figueres, a must<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-and-barcelona\/#Dali_and_Barcelona\" title=\"Dali and Barcelona\">Dali and Barcelona<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-and-barcelona\/#Following_Dalis_tracks\" title=\"Following Dali\u2019s tracks\">Following Dali\u2019s tracks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_article_The_Dali_Museum_in_Figueres_a_must\"><\/span>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Dali Museum in Figueres, a must<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dali_and_Barcelona\"><\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/dali_barcelona4.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-58842 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/dali_barcelona4-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"dali_barcelona4\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Dali and Barcelona<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expert Ricard Mas, in his book <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dal\u00ed and Barcelona<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, explores the relationship and claims that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe haven\u2019t quite understood Dali\u2019s sense of humour here\u201d. He argues that he spent a significant part of his days in the city during his early age and youth days, as he had many connections here and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his family was mostly from Barcelona. In his book, Mas details the places Dali visited (in his youth and later on, after the war), the shops he frequented and other locations he knew well. He also claims that his relationship with the city \u00a0is now a bit better than when he died, in 1989: \u201cWhen he died in 1989 everybody thought he was a clown, people had no consideration for him. The only thing that was valued was that he was a good drawer and his surrealist period (&#8230;) But with time this image has improved and today Dal\u00ed is one of the great ones.\u201d Dali\u2019s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> rejection of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/spain-catalonia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Catalan<\/a> nationalism, his assimilation by Franco\u2019s regime and his support of Catholicism after the 40\u2019s didn\u2019t help either. His conferences in the Ateneu (an institution to promote and preserve Catalan culture) were often controversial. In 1930, for example, he insulted <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%C3%80ngel_Guimer%C3%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Angel Guimer\u00e0<\/a> calling him a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pederast and a pig<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and proposed the demolition of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/gothic-quarter-best-tour-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gothic quarter<\/a>. However, when he came back from the States in the 50\u2019s, he reconciled with the Ateneu institution and his intellectuals with a new conference, in which he took back his previous statements.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proof of the city\u2019s indifference to the surrealist genius is the fact that there\u2019s no public space named after\u00a0him, although this is meant to <img class=\"size-medium wp-image-58839 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/dali_barcelona-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"dali_barcelona\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" \/>change, since a big square in the Sagrera area has been planned for that purpose (the original plan dates back from 2003 but still hasn\u2019t materialised). Another sign is the lack of important permanent works of Dali in the city, they all went to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dali-museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Figueres<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/costa-brava\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cadaqu\u00e9s<\/a> museums during the negotiations between the Culture Ministry and the Catalan Generalitat government. The relationship cannot be so easily reduced to hate though, because apart from the several places and spots that Dal\u00ed\u00a0enjoyed and loved in Barcelona, he was one of the first and most notorious ambassadors of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/gaudis-architecture-in-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gaud\u00ed<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/hidden-modernist-jewels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">modernism<\/a> around the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Following_Dalis_tracks\"><\/span><strong>Following Dali\u2019s tracks<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a child, Dali visited his uncle in his bookshop <strong>Llibreria Verdaguer<\/strong>, located in La Rambla, opposite the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/opera-gran-teatre-del-liceu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liceu<\/a> (the old bookshop is now a Caf\u00e9). As an adult and already a famous artist, he used to exhibit his works in Galeria Dalmau (Consell de Cent street 349), or give the well-known conferences mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/dali_barcelona3.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-58841 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/dali_barcelona3-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"dali_barcelona3\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>before in L\u2019Ateneu (Canuda street 6). He also enjoyed staying with his wife Gala in the Ritz Hotel (today called El Palace and with the suite where he used to sleep named after him, in Gran Via 668), and host parties and art events there. In one of them Dali brought a stuffed horse as a gift for Gala. He also liked to eat in many of the elegant restaurants of the city: \u00a0Set Portes, Via Veneto, Perellada, Windsor, Els Cargols, Quo Vadis or La Orotava; and enjoyed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/flamenco-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flamenco<\/a> and rumba shows in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tablaos<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> around the city. Another of his fascinations was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Snowflake_(gorilla)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Copito de Nieve<\/a><\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Snowflake, the albino gorilla that lived in the Barcelona zoo all his life) and went often to visit him. For one of his birthdays, Dali even bought a big cake and a bride mannequin for the gorilla.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, no major works of art can be seen in the city permanently, just a hidden gem: his paintings in the ceiling of the Palacete Alb\u00e9niz, only open to the general public in special occasions.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"58837\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The relationship between Dal\u00ed and the city of Barcelona has always been controversial and difficult. Although in love with Cadaqu\u00e9s and La Costa Brava, he spent an important part of his life in Barcelona. Often polemical in his actions and statements, many intellectuals from the city didn\u2019t sympathise with him. Even now, many years after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":58840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4349],"tags":[3007],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58837"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108615,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58837\/revisions\/108615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}