Salvador Dalí, 1st Marquis of Dalí de Púbol (Figueres, May 11, 1904 - Figueres, January 23, 1989) was an important Spanish painter, known for his surrealist work. Dalí's work draws attention for its incredible combination of bizarre, dreamlike images with excellent plastic quality.
Dalí was influenced by the masters of classicism. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931. Salvador Dalí also had artistic works in film, sculpture, and photography.
He collaborated with Walt Disney on the animated short film Destiny, which was Posthumously released in 2003, and alongside Alfred Hitchcock on the film Spellbound. He has also authored poems in the same surrealist vein.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage," claiming that his ancestors were descendants of Moors who occupied southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711 to 1492), and attributed to this his love of all things excessive and golden, his passion for luxury, and his oriental love of clothing.
He had a recognized tendency toward extravagant attitudes and accomplishments designed to attract attention, which sometimes annoyed those who appreciated his art, while also annoying his critics, since his theatrical and eccentric manner tended to eclipse his artistic work.
Salvador Dalí Biography
Salvador Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech was born at 8:45 a.m. on May 11, 1904, at number twenty of the carrer (street) Monturiol in the village of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. His older brother, also named Salvador (born October 12, 1901), died of gastroenteritis nine months earlier.
On August 1, 1903." His father, Salvador Dalí i Cusí, was a middle-class lawyer, a popular figure in the city and the master of an irascible and domineering character; his mother, Felipa Domenech Ferrés, always encouraged her son's artistic endeavors. Dalí also had a sister, Ana Maria, who was three years younger. In 1949, she published a book about her brother, "Dalí Seen by His Sister."
Dalí attended the Federal Drawing School, where he began his formal art education. In 1916, during a summer vacation in Cadaquès spent with Ramón Pichot's family, he discovered Impressionist painting. Pichot was a local artist who made frequent trips to Paris.
The following year, Dalí's father organized an exhibition of his son's charcoal drawings in his family home. His first public exhibition took place at the Municipal Theatre in Figueres in 1919.
In February 1921, his mother died of breast cancer. Salvador Dali, then sixteen years old, said after his mother's death: "It was the greatest blow I had ever experienced in my life. I adored her...I could not resign myself to the loss of a being whom I had counted on to make invisible the inevitable stains of my soul."
After the death of Felipa Domenech Ferrés, Salvador Dali's father married his late wife's sister. Dalí did not resent this marriage, as some have thought, as he had a great love and respect for his aunt.
Salvador Dalí in Madrid and Paris
In October 1921 Dalí moved to Madrid, where he studied at the San Fernando Academy of Arts. Already then Dalí attracted attention in the streets with eccentric long hair, a large bow tie around his neck, pants up to the knee, high stockings and long coats, imitating Oscar Wilde's way of dressing.
What gained him the most attention from his colleagues were the paintings in which he experimented with Cubism (although at the time of these first works he probably did not fully understand the Cubist movement, since all he knew of this art came from some magazine articles and a catalog that Ramon Pichot had given him, since there were no Cubist artists in Madrid at the time).
He also experimented with Dadaism, which probably influenced all his work. At this time he became close friends with the poet Federico García Lorca and with Luis Buñuel. The friendship with Lorca was quite deep and homoerotic, to the point that twice the poet tried to possess Dalí, a fact admitted by the poet himself.
Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926, shortly after the final exams, in which he declared that nobody at the Academy was competent enough to evaluate him. His mastery of skills in painting is well documented at that time in his impeccable and realistic painting "Bread Basket" from 1926.
In 1924 the still unknown Salvador Dalí illustrated for the first time a book, the Greek poem "Les bruixes de Llers" ("The Witches of Llers") by his friend, the Catalan poet and journalist Carles Fages de Climent.
That same year he made his first trip to Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso, who was admired by the young Dalí. ("I came to see you before I went to the Louvre," Dalí told him. "You did very well," Picasso replied to him.) Picasso had already heard good things about Dalí through Juan Miró.
Over the next few years, Dali made a series of works strongly influenced by Picasso and Miró, while he was developing his own style. Some trends in Dalí's work that would remain throughout his career were already evident in the 1920s, mainly by Raphael, Bronzino, Francisco de Zurbarán, Vermeer, and Velázquez.
The exhibitions of his works in Barcelona aroused great attention and a mixture of praise and debate and causing by the critics. At this time, Dalí grew a mustache, which became emblematic of him, a style based on the 17th century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez.
In 1929, he collaborated with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel on the short film Un Chien Andalou, and in August he met his muse and future wife, Gala Éluard (whose real name is Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, born September 7, 1894, in Kazan, Tartary, Russia), a Russian immigrant ten years older than Dalí, married at the time to the surrealist poet Paul Éluard.
She officially joined the Surrealist group in the Parisian neighborhood of Montparnasse (although her work had already been influenced by Surrealism for two years). In 1934 Dalí and Gala, who had been living together since 1929, were married in a civil ceremony (religious ceremony in 1958).
Salvador Dalí in Personality and Politics
Politics played a significant role in his emergence as an artist. He was sometimes portrayed as a supporter of the authoritarian Francisco Franco. André Breton, leader of the Surrealist movement, made a great effort to dissociate his name from Surrealism.
The reality is probably a bit more complex. In any case, he was not an anti-Semite, as he was even a friend of the famous architect and designer Paulo László, who was Jewish. He also uttered great admiration for Freud (whom he knew), and Albert Einstein, both of whom were Jewish.
In his youth, Dalí embraced for a time both anarchism and communism. In his 1970 book, Dalí declares himself an anarchist and a monarchist. While in New York City in 1942, he denounced his colleague, surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel as an atheist and communist, which led to Buñuel being fired from his position at the Museum of Modern Art and later blacklisted from the American film industry.
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Dalí fled and refused to align himself with any group. After his return to Catalonia following World War II, Dalí became closer to the regime of Francisco Franco.
Some have stated that Dalí supported Franco's regime, congratulating him for his actions in "cleansing Spain of destructive forces." He is said to have sent a message to Franco, "praising him for signing the death warrant of political prisoners." Dalí met Franco once He did not even meet with him in person to paint a portrait of his granddaughter
. It is impossible to determine whether his tributes to Franco were sincere or whimsical, since he also sent a telegram praising Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu. The Romanian daily newspaper "Scînteia" published it, without suspecting its mockery aspect.
In 1960, Dalí began work on the Teatro-Museum Salvador Dalí in his hometown of Figueres. It was the biggest project of his entire career and the main focus of his energies until 1974, although he continued to make additions until the mid-1980s.
Gala died in Port Lligat in the early hours of June 10, 1982. Since then, Dalí was deeply depressed and disoriented, losing all will to live. He refused to eat, becoming dehydrated, and had to be fed through a nasal tube.
In 1980, a cocktail of non-prescribed medication damaged his nervous system, thus bringing his artistic ability to an untimely end. At 76, the "once healthy" Dalí suffered terrible tremors on his right side, caused by Parkinson's Disease.
He moved from Figueres to the castle in Pubol, which he had bought for Gala. In 1984, a fire broke out in his room under unclear circumstances - perhaps it was a suicide attempt by Dalí,
perhaps it was an attempted murder by an employee, or perhaps simple neglect by his staff - but Dalí was saved and taken to Figueres, where a group of friends, patrons and artists made sure that the painter lived out his last years comfortably in the theater-museum.
In November 1988 Dalí was taken to the hospital with heart failure and on December 5, 1988 he was visited by King Juan Carlos of Spain, who confessed that he had always been a devotee of Dalí.
On January 23, 1989, while watching his favorite recording of Tristan und Isolde, he died of heart failure in Figueres at the age of 84, and, coming full circle, is buried in the crypt of his Theatre-Museum in Figueres, across the street from the church of Sant Pere, where his funeral, first communion, and baptism took place, three blocks from the house where he was born.
Salvador Dalí Symbolism
" ... I am painting pictures that make me die of joy, I am creating with absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern, I am doing things that inspire me with a deep emotion, and I am trying to paint them with honesty. "
André Breton accused Dalí of advocating the "new" and "irrational" in "The Hitler Phenomenon," but the artist quickly dismissed this allegation saying, "I am neither Hitlerian in fact, nor in intention." However, when Francisco Franco came to power in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, his support for the new regime, among other things, led to his alleged expulsion from the Surrealist group.
At the time André Breton coined the anagram "Avida dólares" (by Salvador Dalí), which can be translated as "Avid for dollars." Dalí replied, "The only difference between Me and the Surrealists is that I am Surrealism." The more radical Surrealists spoke of Dalí in the past tense, as if he were dead.
Several members of the group such as Ted Joans, would continue to treat the issue extremely harshly and polemically against Dalí, right up to the time of his death.
At this stage their main patron Edward James, poet and patron of the Surrealist movement. Edward James helped the young Salvador Dalí to emerge in the art world through the purchase of many works and financial support for two years.
James and Dalí became good friends and the former characterized Dalí's painting as "Swans reflecting elephants." He also collaborated on two of the most enduring icons of the Surrealist movement: the Telephone-lagosta and Mae West's Sofa-wise.
"During this period Dalí never stopped writing," wrote Robert Descharnes and Nicolas. In 1941, he devised a film called "Jean Gabin Moontide Scenario." He wrote exhibition catalogs such as his own, at the Knoedler Gallery [in New York City in 1943].
He also wrote a novel (published in 1944) about a car show. That started with a drawing by Edwin Cox, published in the Miami Herald newspaper showing him wearing an automobile on a gown night.
In 1940, at the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Dalí and Gala moved to the United States, where they lived for eight years. After this period, Dalí returned to practice Catholicism. In 1942, he published his autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí. An Italian friar, Gabriele Maria Berardi, claimed to have performed an exorcism on Dalí while he was in France in 1947.
Gabriel possessed a sculpture of Christ on the cross that Dalí had given his exorcist to thank him for. The sculpture was discovered in 2005, and two experts in Spanish Surrealism confirmed that there was sufficient reason to believe in similarities between other sculptures made by Dalí.
It was in his beloved Catalonia that Dalí lived the rest of his life. The fact that he chose to live in Spain while the country was ruled by the fascist dictator Francisco Franco brought him criticism from progressives and many other artists.
Some think that the common scorn for Dalí's late work has more to do with politics than with the true merits of that work. In 1959, André Breton organized an exhibition called "Homage to Surrealism," celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Surrealism,
which included works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Enrique Tábara, and Eugenio Granell. Breton strongly opposed the inclusion of Sistine Madonna in the International Surrealism Exhibition in New York the following year.
After World War II, Dali retained characteristics of technical painting and an interest in optical illusion, science, and religion. Increasingly Catholic and inspired by the shock of Hiroshima, demarcated by him as "Nuclear Mysticism."
In paintings such as Madonna de Port-O Lligat (first version) from 1949, Corpus Hypercubus and from 1954, Dalí sought to synthesize Christian iconography with images inspired by the disintegration of nuclear materials.
Works such as La Gare de Perpignan from 1965, hallucinogens and Toreador from 1968-1970. In 1960, Dalí began work on the Theater and Museum in his hometown of Figueres; it was his largest single project and the main focus of his energy until 1974.
In 1968, Dalí filmed a television ad for Lanvin chocolates and in 1969 he designed the logo for the company Chupa Chups. Also in 1969, he was responsible for creating the look of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest advertising, metal and created a large sculpture, which was situated on the stage, in Madrid's Teatro Real.
Works of Salvador Dalí
Dalí produced over 1500 paintings throughout his career, and also illustrations for books, lithographs, designs for theater sets and costumes, a large number of drawings, dozens of sculptures, and various other projects.
The Persistence of Memory
In 1931, Dalí painted one of his most famous works, The Persistence of Memory. Sometimes called "Cast Clocks," the work features the surrealistic image of the melting of a pocket watch. The general interpretation of the work is that the clock is relentlessly presupposing that time is rigid or deterministic, and in this sense is supported by other images, in the work, such as the vast expanse of the landscape and of flying ants devouring the other clocks.
The two largest collections of Dalí's work are the Salvador Dalí museum in Saint Petersbourg, Florida, USA, and the Teatro-Museo Salvador Dalí in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.
Dalí was a versatile artist, and did not limit himself only to artistic painting. Some of his most popular artistic works are sculptures and other objects, and he is also known for his contributions to theater, fashion, and photography, among other areas.
Sculptures of Salvador Dali
Two of the most popular objects of Surrealism were the Lobster Telephone and Mae West's Sofa-lab, completed by Dalí in 1936 and 1937, respectively. Surrealist artist and patron Edward James commissioned these two types of pieces from Dalí; James inherited a large estate in West Dean, West Sussex, at the age of five, and was a leading supporter of the Surrealists in the 1930s.
"Lobsters and telephones had strong sexual connotations for [Dalí]," according to the caption display for the Lobster-Phone, which he called a close analogy between food and sex. The telephone was functional, and James bought four, one of them from Dalí to replace the telephones in his retreat home.
One figure is in the Tate Gallery; the second can be found in the German Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt in Frankfurt am Main; the third belongs to the Edward James Foundation; and the fourth is in the National Gallery of Australia.
"Wood and Satin" and Mae West's Sofa-lips were cast after Dalí observed the lips of actress Mae West, which he found fascinating. West was previously the subject of Dalí's 1935 painting of Mae West's face. The work is currently in Brighton and occasionally in museums in England.
During the years between 1941 and 1970 Dalí was also responsible for creating an impressive set of jewelry, 39 in total. The jewels are intricate creations and some contain moving parts. The most famous jewelry created by Dalí was "The Royal Heart".
It was crafted with gold and encrusted with forty-six rubies, forty-two diamonds and four emeralds, created so that the center "beats" resemble a real heart. The collection can be seen at the Museum-Dalí Theater in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, where it is on permanent display.
" Without an audience, without the presence of spectators, these jewels would not fulfill the function for which I yearned. The spectator, then, is the best artist. "
Salvador Dali in Theater
In theater, Dalí is remembered for building the set for García Lorca's 1927 play Mariana Pineda. For Bacchanale (1939), based on a ballet and set to music by Richard Wagner from the 1845 opera Tannhäuser, Dalí provided both the set design and the libretto.
Salvador Dali in Cinema
Dalí also participated in film production, most notably for Un chien andalou, a 17-minute French film co-written with Luis Buñuel, which is widely remembered for its graphic scene simulating the opening of an eyeball with a razor. Dalí collaborated again with Luis Buñuel in 1930 on the film L'âge d'Or, and went on to write a number of screenplays, very few of which were ever conceived.
The best known of his film projects is probably the dream in the sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, which recalls strongly in themes of psychoanalysis. He also worked with a Disney production, in the animation Destiny; completed in 2003 by Baker Bloodworth and Roy Disney,
which contains dreamlike images - such as strange figures and walking on foot through the air. Dalí completed only one other film in his lifetime: Impressions of High Mongolia (1975), in which he narrated a story about an expedition in search of giant hallucinogenic mushrooms. The microscopic images were based on uric acid, bronze stains on the band of a ballpoint pen, on which Dalí would have urinated for several weeks.
Dalí built up a repertoire in fashion and photography industries. In fashion, his cooperation with Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is well known, where Dalí was hired by Schiaparelli to produce a white dress. Other designs Dalí made his own included a shoe in the shape of a hat and a rose for a belt with a buckle in the shape of lips.
He also participated in the creation of textile designs and perfume bottles. With Christian Dior, in 1950, Dalí creates the piece "fantasy for the year 2045". Photographers with whom he collaborated include Man Ray, Brassaï, Cecil Beaton, and Philippe Halsman.
The film Little Ashes, which was released in 2009, is based on his life and work. Robert Pattinson plays the role of Dali in the film whose story is set in Spain in 1922, just after World War I.
Salvador Dali in Prints
Throughout his life, Dalí worked extensively with etchings and consistently applied the paranoid-critical method. The techniques used were drypoint, etching, woodcut and lithography.
Dalí was one of the first artists to produce surrealist illustrations for texts (L'Immaculée Conception), in 1930. In 1933, M. Czar published the artist's first single-edition (Enfant sauterelle). Between 1959-60 Dalí employed the technique of buletismo, which consists of throwing ink at a piece of paper, creating an image.
From 1966 onward, Dalí used themes from other artists and recreated works from a surrealist perspective, such as the sets Tauromachie, inspired by Pablo Picasso, Flordali (Flora Dalinae), inspired by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, and Dalí's Les Capriches de Goya, inspired by Goya. In 1973, he published Dix Recettes d'immortalité, considered the first stereoscopic print in the history of art.
Among the papers most used for his etchings, Dalí had preference for Japanese paper, Guarro, Richard de Bas and Arjomari (Rives and Arches).