Avida Dollars retraces a crucial moment in the artistic journey of Salvador Dalí, focusing on the period from the 1930s to what would later be defined as his mystical atomic phase.

The title originates from an anagram coined by André Breton, who transformed the artist’s name into Avida Dollars, alluding to his supposed obsession with wealth. Yet, for Dalí, money was never an end in itself it was a means. A means that allowed him to travel, to enter international circles, to engage with scientists, mathematicians, and intellectuals, and to move freely across different cultural environments. This openness was made possible also through the presence of Gala Dalí, a central figure in both his life and career.

Curated by Beniamino Levi, the exhibition reconsiders this historical narrative, revealing how Breton’s anagram functioned as a critical and ideological gesture  an attempt to marginalize Dalí and distance him from the Surrealist movement founded in 1924. Rather than confirming an alleged greed for money, the exhibition unveils the complexity of Dalí’s position, showing how economic success became a tool for artistic and intellectual expansion.

Beginning with his first travels to the United States in the 1930s, Dalí achieved considerable financial success and international recognition. This period is represented in the exhibition through emblematic works such as Woman of Time, a monumental sculptural presence that evokes, almost symbolically, the figure of the Statue of Liberty a tribute to America as the land that enabled his rise.

Thanks to this newfound prosperity, Dalí gained access to influential environments in both America and Europe, allowing him to deepen his research beyond the purely psychological framework of Surrealism. His work gradually evolved toward a scientific dimension, engaging with the theories of Einstein and Newton, and exploring themes such as the cosmos, physics, and the structure of reality.

This shift is reflected in a series of works dedicated to scientific and symbolic imagery: from cosmic-themed plates illustrating space exploration, to representations of the caduceus, traditionally linked to medicine and knowledge. Even iconic motifs such as the melting clock as seen in works like Profile of Time can be read through the lens of Einstein’s theories of relativity, where time becomes fluid and unstable.

After 1945, with the advent of the atomic age, Dalí’s art underwent a further transformation. The trauma and revelation of the atomic bomb led him toward what he defined as his mystical and religious period, in which science and spirituality converge into a new visual language. This synthesis marks the beginning of his mystical atomic phase, where matter dissolves into particles and the visible world opens to metaphysical interpretations.

The exhibition culminates in a final section that explores Dalí’s most spiritual and visionary production. Among the highlights is the complete series of one hundred works dedicated to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, alongside significant sculptural works such as Saint George and the Dragon. This piece holds a particular symbolic relevance, as Saint George is the patron saint of Sassuolo, the city hosting the exhibition. Notably, the sculpture was donated by Beniamino Levi to the Vatican Museums in 1995, further reinforcing its historical and cultural significance.

The journey concludes with a monographic section dedicated to Dalí’s multifaceted identity: painter, sculptor, designer, scenographer, and communicator. Through this final space, the exhibition reveals the depth of his creative method — from the paranoiac-critical method to his complex symbolic universe — presenting Dalí as a total artist, capable of transcending disciplines and shaping one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century.