Spain celebrates Dali's 100th birthday

MADRID, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The 100th anniversary of Salvador Dali's May 11 birth will be marked with exhibits, books and other events, with the first major show on Feb. 5 in Barcelona.

The first celebratory exhibit, "Dali, cultura de masas" (Dali, Popular Culture), being organized by Caixaforum in Barcelona, will feature 400 works, including drawings, photographs, clippings, magazine covers, postcards, various objects, manuscripts and films from and about the artist, the official Spanish news agency EFE reported.

The exhibit, which later will travel to Madrid, the United States and The Netherlands, explores Dali's relationship with popular culture and how his works reflected 20th century technological and economic changes, a theme that fascinated the artist who died 15 years ago.

Dozens of other events are planned throughout 2004, including special restaurant menus featuring Dali's favorites, such as snails, geese, pig's feet and chocolate.

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali Domenech, considered the most eccentric artist in Spain's history, was born May 11, 1904, in the town of Figueras, in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia. Dali died Jan. 23, 1989, of a heart attack in his hometown.