The “Gala Salvador Dalí” exhibition at the MNAC

The Gala Salvador Dalí Foundation and the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) organised the exhibition “Gala Salvador Dalí. Una habitación propia en Púbol” (Gala Salvador Dalí. A room of one’s own in Púbol) at the museum in Barcelona from 5th July to 14th October 2018, thanks to the sponsorship by Abertis.

A companion to Dalí, and before that to the poet Paul Éluard, Gala – muse and, in turn, artist – was without a doubt one of the key figures of the 20th century creative scene. 

Paintings by Max Ernst, photographs by Man Ray and Cecil Beaton, and especially works by Salvador Dalí are much more than portraits: they comprise an autobiographical odyssey on which Gala imagined and created her own image, like a true postmodern heroine. 

The exhibition, curated by Estrella de Diego, professor of Art History at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), followed the evolution of Salvador Dalí through sixty works, including oil paintings and drawings. The exhibition also presented a selection of paintings, drawings and photographs by other artists who were part of the surrealist movement, including Max Ernst, Picasso, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton and Brassaï. An interesting collection of letters, postcards and books was also on display for the first time, as well as dresses and objects from Gala’s personal wardrobe. 

The exhibition unveiled a Gala, who camouflaged herself as a muse while forging her own path as an artist: writing, imagining, creating her own image while also playing an essential role in Dalí’s artistic development and to carry out the manoeuvre of converting the artist into a work of art in himself. “Gala was a creative woman who wrote, read and designed her own clothes, as well as her own image for portrayal by Dalí. She co-authored much of her second husband’s work, to such an extent that towards the end of his life, he began to sign his pieces with both their names: Gala-Salvador Dalí”, explains Estrella de Diego. 

The works in this exhibition were mainly from Dalí Foundation, which provided more than 40 pieces, as well as from private collections and international museums such as the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg (Florida), the Haggerty Museum of Art (Milwaukee), the Centre d’Art Georges Pompidou (Paris), the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen and Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), the Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (Rovereto), the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation and the Reina Sofía National Art Museum (Madrid), among others. Sponsorship of the exhibition stems from Abertis’ collaboration with the Friends of the MNAC Private Foundation to promote the Museum collection, preserve and enhance its collections and foster a feeling of admiration for the heritage.