Born in Figueres in Spanish Catalonia, surrealist painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989) liked the city in French Catalonia of Perpignan and used to claim that he gained the most inspiration simply by sitting in the train station’s lobby.
In September 1963 while on the station forecourt he had a hallucinatory enlightenment at sunset that inspired him to make intensive searches for the historical and cosmological significance of Perpignan. These investigations culminated in his declamation of the station of Perpignan as le Centre du Monde, the center of the world. Soon after, he began to design studies (models, photographs and drawings) for the work "La Gare de Perpignan", which he completed in 1965, in which the most important themes, subjects and characters of his life float in appearance like a dream. Dalí is represented twice in the vertical axis: he appears in the light at the center of the image, floating with arms spread, and at the top of the painting.
In his text of the invitation of the Gallery Knoedler, New York, where in his own words, his "best ever painting" was first presented to the public, he expounded the picture's title and speaking to art viewers of his time said, "Pop, Op , Yes-yes, Pompier", where the last word may translate as kitsch. In 1977 the painting was the thematic centrepoint in an exhibition at the Paris Gallerie Petit. The following year it was purchased by Aachen collector couple Peter and Irene Ludwig for the collection of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. In 1990 Peter Ludwig took his 65th birthday as the occasion to give the popular image to that museum.
Although Dali didn't produce any art for the station, its ceilings are painted in an homage to Dali’s art with large swirls of bright yellows, oranges and blues creating enormous butterflies.
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