Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul will host "Salvador Dali: A Surrealist in Istanbul" exhibition between September 19th, 2008 and January 19th, 2009.

Akbank is said to spent 7 million YTL (almost 5.6 million USD) Dali's paintings to Istanbul. Suzan Sabanci Dincer, chairperson of Akbank's Executive Board used her personal influence for the most expensive art organization of Turkey which will begin on September 19th.

The collection, which will take place in the exhibition, was promoted in Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain on Wednesday where Salvador Dali was born.

The exhibition is expected to host at least 150,000 people. The exhibition will display 269 works of art.

Salvador Dali was born on May 11th, 1904 and died on January 23rd, 1989. He was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. Dali was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.