Figueras - Dali

A last report from the Spanish vacations will be about the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueras.

Figueras was the place where Salvador Dali was born (1904) and where he died (1989). He was himself initiator and creator of this site, which occupies partly the old municipal theatre, seriously damaged by fire during the Spanish civil war, partly some added buildings. The opening took place in 1974. Dali was born just round the corner, was baptised and buried in the nearby church. His first exhibition took place in the theatre. He spent his last years in the building and his tomb is here.

One is just stupefied by the beauty of the facility, starting with what now is an open courtyard and what used to be the place for the theatre audience. 

This is the world’s largest collection of Dali’s works. A lot of effort has been made to make the works appear in their extravagance, like the “Mae West” presentation.

A specific part of the museum is dedicated to jewellery, difficult to wear, but beautiful to look at. 

Villa Seurat

For its particular architecture, 1920 “art moderne” style, I went to see Villa Seurat, a small street in the 14th arrondissement. It was a little bit of a disappointment. Despite the fact that most of the buildings were built during a short period and by renowned architects like André Lurçat and the brothers Perret, there is no homogeneous style and the materials used, as often with this type of building (Le Corbusier, Mallet-Stevens…) don’t resist well – or need very careful, and expensive, maintenance. What is possibly more interesting here is the number of personalities related to this street.

The name of this small street ("villa") comes from the painter Georges Seurat (1859-1891), who (possibly) lived here for a short while – before the present buildings were constructed.

One of the houses was built for the brother of the architect André Lurçat, Jean Lurçat, especially known for his tapestries. Henry Miller lived here (at no. 18), first as a guest of a friend (1931), behind the three windows you can see here. This is where he started to write “Tropic of Cancer”. He later moved in more permanently on a higher floor (1934-39), where he part of the time shared the flat with Anaïs Nin, another erotic author. It seems that Salvador Dali (with Gala) also lived in this house for a short period in the 30’s.
Villa Seurat is a small side street to Rue de la Tombe-Issoire, which during the Roman times was the main road from the south to the centre of Lutèce (Paris). The name of the street in translation is “the tomb of Issoire”. There was a medieval tale that a giant, named Isoré, killed pilgrims who took this road on their way to Santiago de Compostella. He was finally killed, but he was so big that he had to be buried here. You can find a modern and very kind version of the giant on the front of a school building.

… and under our feet are the catacombs.

It's Friday again... I wish you a nice weekend!