Casa Dali At Portlligat, 1

I couldn't reduce my hundred or so photos of the Casa Dali at Portlligat beyond this and the following long post. It was Salvador and Gala's only permanent residence from 1930 to her death in 1982. Granted, they wintered in New York and Paris and other places and generally avoided Spain during civil and world wars. But the place is fascinating, as the personal residence of famous people, as art history, and for its own beauty. Dali left Portlligat the day Gala died and never returned. It is maintained now by the Fundacion Gala y Salvador Dali, which also maintains the museum in Figueres and the castle in Pubol.

Looking from the olive grove down to Casa Dali and the
little harbor/cove of Portlligat; Dali began acquiring and
building in 1929, and was able to keep the area to himself
for many years; the house is a ramshackle assemblage of
fisherman's huts, but beautifully put together and decorated

The house; only ten persons are permitted inside per visit

Their boat,the Gala; he found it a wreck in 1955, and rebuilt
it; she would go fishing in the harbor while he painted (note
it is berthed next to the Queen Mary) 

There are many photographs such as this at the Casa; she
was his lover, wife, muse, artistic advisor, and business
manager; they were never apart after 1929

Lines of sight in the entry, the Bear Room

Library; they were said to have had 4500 books; note low
chairs and sofa

Sofa in another room, said to have been the inspiration for
the Mae West installation

One of many outdoor areas, a terrace overlooking the harbor

The diminutive kitchen; though a very large house, it was
defiantly just a house for two people

There are art history references all through the house, here,
a mirror last seen in van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding; another
mirror is similar to one in a painting by Vermeer, whom Dali
venerated

The artist's studio

Velasquez, taped to the wall

The giant movable easel; Dali preferred
painting seated, at least in his later years, and
the easel could be raised or lowered as
required; when finished, the large canvasses
could be lowered directly through a slit in the
floor for transit

More of the studio