The Madonna of Portlligat: Dalí's dreamlike claim arrives in Figueres for the first time

Salvador Dalí defined The Madonna of Portlligat as one of his vital manifestos. It was not just a monumental painting, but the epicentre of a new nuclear mysticism that wanted to reconcile science and religion, past and future, body and spirit. After travelling more than 10,000 kilometres from Fukuoka (Japan), this iconic work now arrives in Figueres for the first time, exhibited at the Dalí Theatre-Museum from 17 September 2025 to 22 February 2026. It is a historic occasion: the work had not set foot on Catalan soil since 1952, when it was shown at the 1st Hispano-American Art Biennial.

The exhibition, curated by Montse Aguer, director of the Dalí Museums, with the collaboration of Rosa Maria Maurell, Lucia Moni, Clàudia Galli and Maria Carreras, becomes more than a simple exhibition. It is an immersive journey that explores the multiple meanings of The Madonna: the connection with the Renaissance, the atomic symbolism, the dialogue with Gala and the link with the Empordà landscape. Through audiovisual resources, pedagogy and specialized publications, the exhibition seeks to rescue the complexity of a work that synthesizes Dalí's ambition to transcend the boundaries of painting.

The exhibition is marked in the last section of the visitor's journey to the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. In this final space, painted in yellow and blue —the colours of mysticism towards which Dalí wanted to project his work—, the piece acquires an unusual visual and intellectual power. Photography, video and painting dialogue in a showroom that becomes a total experience: a marvel for the eyes and for the critical spirit.

The tour emphasizes the historical context. In 1949 Dalí painted a first version of the Madonna, of reduced dimensions, which he presented to Pope Pius XII with the desire to marry Gala for the Church. In the summer of 1950 he created a second monumental version in the Portlligat workshop, marked by his fascination with nuclear physics after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The work, surrounded by floating elements that symbolize the decomposition of matter, dialogues with Renaissance classicism and projects Gala in the central role of the Virgin Mary. Dalí will write in his memoirs: “Gala, you are reality”.

The international dimension of the Madonna is also documented. In November 1950, it was presented at the Carstairs Gallery in New York in an almost theatrical installation: the canvas, too large to fit in the elevator, was hoisted with ropes from the street to the room, under the supervision of Dalí himself. The scene, immortalized by photographer Mark Kauffman for Life magazine, summarizes the spectacular character of the artist. Subsequently, the work toured key stages of world art, from Paris to Milan.

But the project does not stop at the pictorial work. The Dalí Foundation has edited a monographic publication with texts by Montse Aguer, Maria Carreras, Bea Crespo, Clàudia Galli, Rosa M. Maurell and Lucia Moni, among others, and has created a microsite with resources in four languages that include an interactive storymap and a high-resolution viewer. The educational program deploys workshops and activities for primary, secondary and artistic baccalaureate, in an attempt to make the Madonna not only a museum icon but also a living pedagogical tool.

The exhibition also includes a four-minute audiovisual that narrates the fascinating journey of the work around the world. Directed by David Pujol and produced by the Dalí Foundation, the audiovisual uses archive material and previously unpublished documents that illuminate the international trajectory of the Madonna. The whole constitutes a proposal that not only wants to commemorate the history of a work, but also to reactivate it in the present as a symbol of harmony between art, science and spirituality.

In short, The Madonna of Portlligat . A dreamlike explosion is not just an exhibition. It is an act of historical and cultural vindication: bringing to Figueres, in the heart of the Empordà, one of the works that best embodies Dalí's universal ambition. An icon that combines tradition and modernity, mysticism and experimentation, and that today, more than seventy years later, continues to speak to us with the same visionary force.