The 21st century is 35 years late – ok
In any case that’s what Salvador Dalí thought. On November 15th, 1966, he offered an original artwork to the city of Paris. To honour friends who owned a shop at 27 Rue Saint-Jacques, Dalí installed a sundial on the wall of their building and even invited the television and a marching band along for the occasion. This inauguration was for him “the first event of the 21st century”.
Dalí’s sundial : Paris, France
Dalí’s creation is the perfect example of the artist’s obsessions and sense of humour. The dial looks like a woman’s face, unless it is a scallop (coquille Saint-Jacques in French) in a schoolboy humour allusion to the name of the street. In fact, Rue Saint-Jacques owes its name to the fact that in the Middle Ages many pilgrims set off from here along St James’ Way to Santiago de Compostela (Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle).
Today most passers-by know nothing of the street’s history or Dalí’s sundial, which you can still see on the end of the building situated between numbers 27 and 29. It’s just a seven-minute walk from French Theory, so you can make your own mind up as to whether or not it deserves to go down in history. Don’t try and set your watch by it though: the building’s wall isn’t perfectly vertical and so the sundial has never shown the exact time.
If you feel like taking the weight of your feet, picking up a little culture or staying a bit longer in the neighbourhood, why not pop into French Theory. We’d be pleased to see you and you can discover our speciality coffee, audio lounge, botanical room, concept store and of course the new rooms.