Salvador Dali

Studied as a young man at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, and he had his first exhibition of his paintings in Barcelona in 1925. At the age of 25 he became a member of the group of surrealists and also met his future wife Gala and they became very close. His prominence in the surrealists movement led his to become it's most influential painter but was expelled from the group in 1934. Dali left Europe in 1940 to go to America and it was in 1941 that the Museum of Modern Art, New York gave him a major exhibition of his work which set him on the path to fame. He started a new series of 19 large paintings in a new style which dwelt on religion and historical scenes. Following the death of his wife Gala in 1982 Dali himself began to have poor health with heart problems Throughout his life he worked in all types of mediums and after he died on January 23rd 1989 his family found thousands of paintings in his studio. He will be remembered as being one of the great artist's of the 20th century. Salvador Dali posters Surrealism Transitional Dali Blog Dali Gallery

1904	Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech is born in Figueres, Spain on May 11.
1922	He attends the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.
1925	First one-man exhibition in Barcelona.
1928	First Dalí painting shown in the US at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, PA.
1927	Dalí is called to the Castle of San Fernando for 9 months of military service
1929	Dalí meets future wife Gala Éluard. He joins the Surrealist movement.
1934	Gala and Dalí marry in a civil ceremony on January 30.
1936	Dalí gives a lecture in a diving suit at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London. Appears on cover of Time Magazine.
1938	Dalí visits Sigmund Freud in London.
1939	Dali creates the pavilion the Dream of Venus for the 1936 World’s Fair – an installation of art and performance that will profoundly influence the course of art in the world.
1940	Following the German occupation of Paris, the Dalí’s flee to America to live for the next eight years, working with figures like Hitchcock and Disney. They divide their time between New York and California.
1941	Dalí’s first major retrospective is held at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.
1942	Dalí’s autobiography The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí is published.
1943	Dalí and Gala meet Eleanor and Reynolds Morse who purchase their first Dalí painting, Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, Hope! They Morse’s become lasting friends and most devoted collectors.
1944	Dali publishes his novel Rostras Oscuras (Hidden Faces)
1948	Dali and Gala return to Spain for the first time after 8 years in the US, Dali returns to NY each winter
1952	Dalí goes on a lecture tour in America on “nuclear mysticism”—his new theory of art which combines religion, math, science and Catalan culture in an attempt to revive classical values and techniques; he becomes an American celebrity anew.
1958	Dalí and Gala marry in a religious ceremony in Girona, Spain on August 8.
1965	Huntington Hartford’s Gallery of Modern Art, New York, holds a major Dalí retrospective exhibition featuring the entire Morse collection.
1974	Dalí’s museum, the Teatre-Museu Dalí, in Figueres, Spain, opens on September 28.
1982	Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida opens on March 7. Gala dies in her castle in Pubol, Spain, on June 10. King Juan Carlos of Spain confers the title of Marquis of Pubol on Dalí. Dalí succeeds in changing it to the Marquis of Dalí and Pubol.
1989	Dalí dies of heart failure on January 23 in Figueres. He is buried under the geodesic dome in the Teatre-Museu Dalí.

Art & Artist

Salvador Dali. 1904 - 1989 One of the greatest painters of the 20th Century

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