First Self Portrait

Conspicuously absent from the Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya is Salvador Dalí. He was Catalan: born in Figueres, lived in Cadaques for 40+ years. Eccentric and flamboyant, he was also the complete antithesis of the stereotypically closed, serious Catalan. He embraced Catalunya: He lived here and he built his museum here. But I wonder what Catalunya thinks of him.

Maybe it´s not personal. There weren´t many Miros on display at MNAC either. Maybe the museum aims to show less well-known Catalan artists. And I guess the process by which art is distributed to different museums isn´t really governed by where the art should be. Maybe it´s hard to get good Dalís; maybe the donors gave them to some other museums. Still, it seems strange that the Catalunyan art museum only has three minor Dalís.