Coinciding with the 120th anniversary of Salvador Dalí’s birth, which took place on May 11, 1904, the artist’s birthplace has inaugurated a small exhibition with original drawings from his first period as a painter and which can be visited until next month September.
There are six works, from a private collection, related to the city of Figueres and the Empordà landscape. Also on display are two programs from the Fires i Festes de la Santa Creu de Figueres, from the years 1921 and 1922, with illustrations on the cover by Dalí, who was between 17 and 18 years old at the time.
The sardana, which was a relevant theme in the youth of the painter from Emporda, appears on the cover of the weekly newspaper Empordà Federal, from October 15, 1921, dedicated to the composers Pep Ventura and Enric Morera, with the occasion of the tribute offered by the Germanor Empordanesa association.
The room that hosts the exhibition presents a study in the twentieth century key of this cover. Dalí also illustrated several literary works by authors from the Empordà, such as L’oncle Vicents, by Josep Puig Pjades, or El ritme de la revolució, by Jaume Miravitlles.
The family and the landscape of Cap de Creus are other recurring themes that the artist maintained throughout his artistic production. From Dalí’s Birthplace they explain that it is precisely the family’s support for the concerns of Dalí as a child, which has allowed works from when the artist was only between six and ten years old to be preserved.
Coinciding with the opening to the public of this new exhibition, the marble plaque dedicated to Salvador Dalí by the sculptor Artur Novoa, which was placed in 1961 on the façade of the building, has been relocated inside the building where the artist he resided for the first eight of his life. A plaque that was removed in 2005, coinciding with the start of work on the property, which has become another Dalinian attraction for the city.
To commemorate Dalí’s birth, this small exhibition and the new plaque can be visited for free this weekend during the opening hours of the birthplace.
