Marbella's Avenida del Mar and Constitution Park are home to ten bronze statues by Salvador Dali, surrealist artists and probably Spain's best known enfant terrible. The city of Marbella purchased the ten works by Dali when Constitution Park was still in the planning stages.
Born in Fugueres in 1904, Dali died in 1989, having shocked, delighted and disgusted the art world in equal measure throughout his life. The ten bronze sculptures in Marbella are part of a large body of work, some of which is also on display in Dali's Theatre-Museum in Fugueres in Catalonia, where he died aged 84.
The Marbella works include Mercurio, Perseo, Trajano a Caballo, Caballo con Jinete Tropezando, Elefante Cosmico, Hombre Sobre Delfin, Don Quixote Sentado, Gala Asomada a la Ventana and Mujer Desnuda Subiendo La Escalera.
The elegant yellow marble walkways winding their way through the park seem in stark contrast to some of Dali's most outlandish works. Park visitors can sink into one of the many benches and contemplate life, art and everything to the enchanting sound of falling water provided by several fountains.
These peaceful surroundings would probably have struck the outrageous artist Dali as far too tame and pedestrian, but Constitution Park is a much-loved haven near the seafront for those seeking to escape the crowded streets and beaches in summer.
Constitution Park is located in the "historic extension" part of Marbella, the place where the old town blends into the modern seafront. While the botanical gardens are situated on Paseo de la Alameda, the sculptures occupy a slice of Avenida del Mar, which connects Marbella Old Town with the beach - Constitution Park lies to the west of this, just across from Faro de Marbella.
Freud, Franco and limitless Fun
Dividing his fans and critics throughout his lifetime, Dali worked tirelessly on his Theatre-Museum for several years. For art lovers who have seen his Marbella-based sculptures and some of his paintings, also housed in Marbella, the next step is to visit the Dali Theatre-Museum in his hometown.
Open to the public from 1st July to 30th September each year (9.00 am to 8.00 pm daily), the museum was first created in 1960. It represents his single largest project and was his main focus of artistic endeavour until 1974, when his museum finally opened to the public. Dali continued to work on this project well into his dotage, contributing various artworks until the mid-1980s.
The eccentric artist made the headlines on numerous occasions, from his support for the Franco regime in the Spanish Civil War to his stunt in a Manhattan bookstore in 1962, when he tried to promote his book, The World of Salvador Dali, by appearing on a bed, wired to a machine that recorded his blood pressure and brain waves. People queuing up for the book signing received an autograph and paper recording from Dali's machine.
Dali died of heart failure in his hometown Figureres, where he is buried in the crypt below the stage of his beloved Dali Theatre-Museum. The museum is situated on Gala-Salvador Dali Square 5, which is just across the street from the Sant Pere church, where the artists was baptized, had his first communion and was laid out in state for his funeral. Admission to the museum is 12.00 euros per person (9.00 euros for concessions).
Dali's best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931 and references his admiration for psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud's work. Dali is a major contributor to the cubist, Dadaism and surrealism movements. An innovator at heart, the artist worked in many different media, including film and photography, oil, sculpture and drawings. He acquired his formal training at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid.
Next time you stroll from Marbella Old Town down to the beach, spare a few minutes and take a small detour along the Avenida del Mar. Dali's sculptures make for a good topic of discussion over a delicious meal at one of Marbella's many tapas bars. After a glass or two of fragrant Andalusian wine, Dali's surreal way of looking at the world will begin to make sense!