XPO Salvador Dalí — Attraction in Bruges

A very nice exhibition, but… I made an offer for a piece of art (they have original Dali work for sale as well). The sales lady got into an argument with me over the VAT on a statue. Asking price was 32.000€. If I lived outside Belgium she would knock off the VAT (I have to pay that in my own country when I import it). She took off the VAT, but insisted that her company would still have to pay VAT. I explained that that’s not how things work. On an intracommunautair transaction you don’t have to pay VAT, I pay that to my own government on importing the item. Her answer: “sir, please, I’ve been doing this work as the director for over 14 years, you shouldn’t correct me”… I walked out. Turned around and just walked off. She’s wrong and has the Karen attitude that she “shouldn’t be corrected”. Lady: you were wrong. And I tried to explain that to you in order to come to a deal for this statue. Instead you were arrogant and thought you were right when you weren’t. You just missed a very nice sale of a beautiful statue cause you can’t handle that a guy with long hair knows more about international business than you do. Very saddening.

The museum is worth it, it’s very nice indeed. Just don’t try to buy from the lady. She will only treat you with respect if you think you have money. We saw her send away a lady that sat down at her desk cause she was “making a sale with these customers so I need the chair”. She failed to close that sale for 375€....

Rude and racist I was at the Salvador Dali gallery in Bruges this afternoon around 4 pm. Just as we entered, before we got to the reception, my 8 year old son touched the mirrors as we were entering - these were not part of the exhibition, just a mirrored wall at the door. We hadn't approached the ticket booth yet, we were just entering at the door. A woman approached him and very rudely told him to stop touching the mirrors. Then she pointed the duster she was holding and told me and my little son in a really awful tone, "I will give you the cleaner and you can clean the mirror. Do you want to do that?".

I asked the woman to look at my child, "he is only 8 years old!" But she continued approaching us aggressively. I told her not to be nasty to my children and they're even she shouted at us and told us to get out.

Who was this woman? Is she the owner of this private collection?

Both my children cried so much after leaving the building. I'm absolutely horrified at what this woman has put them through today. My children will recover. But can you imagine if this woman had done this to a child who had just lost a parent or gone through...

Absolutely terrible. It's not a museum, it's an elaborate gift shop. The works of art consist mostly of prints and reproductions, albeit manufactured by Dali himself to generate an income. These works are also for sale to the highest bidding visitor, alongside the usual posters and postcards. However the most galling thing about this 'exhibition' is that there is no context or history provided. Rather, it appears that the art has been thrown up on the walls with no thought toward presentation or creative development. Quite why Dali has an exhibition in Bruges is never touched upon, did the man have a link to the city? I have no idea. How did his ideas develop, what are the themes in his work and how did they evolve through the various stages of his career? Zero explanation, completely ignored. All in all then, a very shabby, ill-considered and utterly underwhelming experience. Greatest shame, is that even with this relatively feeble collection it could have been so much better with a little thought and passion applied. Don't visit, have another Brugse Zot and check out the man's work on Wikipedia instead. You'll be infinitely more...