Dali and Guggenheim: art in all it's diversity

Finally it was our turn to enter the weird and wonderful world of Salvador Dali through spending a few hours in the Art Museum he designed and built. It was full of endless surprises ranging from some beautifully executed paintings and sketches (particularly those of his wife Gaia) through to some really bizarre sculptures and architecture - who could have thought that an old touring car, complete with dummies, with a pole made of tyres and a boat with huge blue drops of water hanging from it could be art? Well Dali would of course!

At every turn there was something else to challenge your ideas about art and make you laugh or cry, as he endured the death of his wife and the political turmoil around him.

When we visited his garden at Port Lligat we had watched a short film of Anton Pixtot , a friend and fellow artist of Dali, talking about his own work and the invitation he received from Dali to display his work in his Museum, so it was interesting to see his work in situ. He used rocks as his inspiration but turned them into figures and landscapes. Very beautiful I thought.

It's impossible to describe Dali's work so I have included lots of photos so you can make your own Judgement! Note the picture frame made of espadrilles! And the stunning jewellery too.

I don't wish to sound obsessed with certain parts of the male anatomy but have a close look at the sketches!!?? Weird or what??

After a few hours of wandering around trying to make sense of it all  we finally left and packed our bags for a train trip and then a short flight to Bilbao. But not before a final lunch at Le Lloc: tuna sald and croquettes for me. Delicious!

As we approached our Hotel in Bilbao late at night in a taxi, the streets became seedier and I noticed a girl on every corner: well many of them no longer girls! Ewan was totally oblivious of course! After getting to our room we heard loud fireworks and realised that we had arrived in Bilbao at the start of the Aste Nagusia Festival week. We wandered through to the old town to get some pinchtos and a drink, only to find every bar filled to overflowing with people wearing blue scarves. These relate to being Basque as we are now in the fiercely Basque province of Spain. This is the week when everyone celebrates this heritage.  Mostly with a lot of drinking and noise. As I write this fireworks are banging overhead and tonight we saw 'duelling' groups: one of drummers and the other people of all ages singing what I presume are patriotic  Basque songs very loudly.

Apparently there is quite a movement among the young to emphasise being Basque and all of the street signs, menus etc. are in both Spanish and Basque, which just confuses us completely! Many of the children today had the same blue scarves and the girls wore dark blue skirts with white petticoats.

Our mission for Bilbao was to see the Guggenheim Museum which was as stunning as I expected. From the moment we entered it was one of those buildings that makes you feel great: soaring curved pillars of stone with lots of curved walls of glass and a wonderful glass atrium too. A beautiful shallow pond extended towards the river and blended the building into the river. Some huge artworks outside  (one which emanates fog at regular intervals!) added to the serene feel. The outside is covered in shiny titanium metal scales which change colour as the sun moves. Truly superb.

The artwork was two exhibitions by Jean-Michael Basquiat , a NY graffiti artist, and the other by Jeff Koons, a Canadian. Both of them with some challenging pieces - a collection of vacuum cleaners is art??? - but with some interesting and powerful pieces too. No photos allowed except at specific  photo points with little green dots on the floor.

Oops - I almost forgot - the audio guide was so detailed and the explanations so long that we didn't get through them which was a pity really. I think if we had listened to them all we would still be there. Numbers were too small for oldies like me but I'd give it a 9.

The other permanent exhibition, that I loved and Ewan hated, consisted of huge brown sheets of steel curved into spirals and paths. I just wanted to run my hands over the sheets of steel and follow them but Ewan thought it was a waste of time!

After several hours we finally left and had much needed coffee and pinchtos in their outdoor  bistro before heading off to wander through the gardens and back along the river to collapse for a siesta.

But first we had to stop and admire 'Puppy' a huge dog made from begonias. The local joke is that it needed a kennel so they built the Guggenheim.

We seem to have moved easily into the habit of a siesta just like the locals. When in Rome.........

We headed off for dinner at about 9.00pm and found the drummers and singers blocking the narrow streets and the bars and restaurants. Eventually we found a table and ordered the menu del noches: menu for the night. It means you choose an entree, main course and dessert, and in this case it came with water, bread and, to Ewan's delight, a bottle of Rioja ( local red wine)! Even I had a couple of glasses!

your art appreciating correspondent

Dianne