Melbourne Dali show attracts 330,000

More than 330,000 people have flocked to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the
works of Spanish surrealism artist Salvador Dali.
The Salvador Dali Liquid Desire exhibition closed its doors in Melbourne on Sunday
after four busy months.
Almost 15,000 people streamed through the gallery's doors around the clock between
5pm (AEST) on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday, the first time the venue opened for 24
hours.
"It shows that cosmopolitan Melburnians value art enough to stay out all night
rather than miss the exhibition," NGV director Dr Gerard Vaughan said in a
statement.
About 43,000 people attended the gallery's art after dark program, which showcased
DJs and live music performances.
The exhibition featured more than 200 pieces spanning the artist's entire career,
from cubism to surrealism to film.
It united the two biggest Dali collections in the world - with works from the
Salvador Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida, and the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali
in Figueres, Spain.
The exhibition was the sixth instalment in the gallery's Melbourne Winter
Masterpieces series.
It was also the second most popular after The Impressionists in 2004, which
attracted 371,000 visitors.
Next year's Winter Masterpieces will feature more than 100 works from 70 artists,
including Degas, Picasso and Munch from Germany's Stadel museum.
It will be the first time the collection has been shown outside Europe.