Documentary Collection. Ephemeral documents

  • Manifiesto místico, Salvador Dalí, Figueres, La Bisbal, 1952

  • Salvador Dalí, catalogue for the exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1939

  • Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and the Rights of Man to His Own Madness, Salvador Dalí, handbill, 1939

  • Exposition Salvador Dalí, catalogue for Galerie Pierre Colle, Paris, 1931

  • Exposició S. Dalí, catalogue for Galeries Dalmau, Barcelona, 1925

The Centre for Dalinian Studies has a substantial collection of over 7,815 graphic documents of various types (posters, exhibition catalogues, invitations, playbills, handbills, etc.) designed for advertising events and artistic manifestations related to the person and work of Salvador Dalí, the surrealist movement and other leading 20th century movements.

The documentary and artistic value of this collection lies both in the contents of the materials and in their form. On one hand, the study of the contents provides very valuable information about the exhibition history of Dalinian works (especially of the early period) it also allows us to improve the chronology of the talks and artistic events in which Dalí took part and establish links with the various communiqués and manifestos published by the artist himself at different times of his life.

On another hand, studying the form of the materials allows us once again to capture the artist's deep involvement in the artistic projects he undertook. We often see how Dalí intervenes in the process of conception and design of the ephemeral materials published on the occasion of an exhibition or an event, thereby adding artistic value to these documents.