Art & Artist

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

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 Dali Blog Dali Gallery

The Birth of Liquid Desires, 1932	Memory of the Child-Woman, 1932	Puzzle of Autumn, 1935	Soft Construction with Boiled Beans - Premonition of Civil War, 1936	Sleep, 1937
Knights of Death, 1937	The Sublime Moment, 1938	Bacchanale, 1939	Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages), 1940	Design for a poster for 'The Secret Life of Salvador DalH', 1942

Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man, 1943	Galarina, 1944-45	Study for the Backdrop of 'Mad Tristan' (Act II), 1944	My Wife, Naked, Looking at her own Body, 1945	The Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1946
Design for 'Destino', 1947	Battle Over a Dandelion, 1947	DalH's Moustache, 1950	Raphaelesque Head Exploding, 1951	Portrait of Colonel Jack Warner, 1951

Collections of  paintings by Salvador Dali.
The Salvador  Dali Museum ( Early Years )
The Salvador  Dali Museum ( Transitional period )  
The Salvador  Dali Museum ( Surrealism )  

Biography

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali I Domenech was born at 8:45 on the morning of May 11, 1904 in the small agricultural town of Figueres, Spain. Figueres is located in the foothills of the Pyrenees, only sixteen miles from the French border in the principality of Catalonia. The son of a prosperous notary, Dali spent his boyhood in Figueres and at the family's summer home in the coastal fishing village of Cadaques where his parents built his first studio. As an adult, he made his home with his wife Gala in nearby Port Lligat. Many of his paintings reflect his love of this area of Spain.

The young Dali attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Early recognition of Dali's talent came with his first one-man show in Barcelona in 1925. He became internationally known when three of his paintings, including The Basket of Bread (now in the Museum's collection), were shown in the third annual Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1928.

The following year, Dali held his first one-man show in Paris. He also joined the surrealists, led by former Dadaist Andre Breton. That year, Dali met Gala Eluard when she visited him in Cadaques with her husband, poet Paul Eluard. She became Dali's lover, muse, business manager, and chief inspiration.

Dali soon became a leader of the Surrealist Movement. His painting, The Persistance of Memory, with the soft or melting watches is still one of the best-known surrealist works. But as the war approached, the apolitical Dali clashed with the Surrealists and was "expelled" from the surrealist group during a "trial" in 1934. He did however, exhibit works in international surrealist exhibitions throughout the decade but by 1940, Dali was moving into a new type of painting with a preoccupation with science and religion.

Dali and Gala escaped from Europe during World War II, spending 1940-48 in the United States. These were very important years for the artist. The Museum of Modern Art in New York gave Dali his first major retrospective exhibit in 1941. This was followed in 1942 by the publication of Dali's autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.

As Dali moved away from Surrealism and into his classic period, he began his series of 19 large canvases, many concerning scientific, historical or religious themes. Among the best known of these works are The Hallucinogenic Toreador, and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in the museum's collection, and The Sacrament of the Last Supper in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

In 1974, Dali opened the Teatro Museo in Figueres, Spain. This was followed by retrospectives in Paris and London at the end of the decade. After the death of his wife, Gala in 1982, Dali's health began to fail. It deteriorated further after he was burned in a fire in his home in Pubol in 1984. Two years later, a pace-maker was implanted. Much of this part of his life was spent in seclusion, first in Pubol and later in his apartments at Torre Galatea, adjacent to the Teatro Museo. Salvador Dali died on January 23, 1989 in Figueres from heart failure with respiratory complications.

As an artist, Salvador Dali was not limited to a particular style or media. The body of his work, from early impressionist paintings through his transitional surrealist works, and into his classical period, reveals a constantly growing and evolving artist. Dali worked in all media, leaving behind a wealth of oils, watercolors, drawings, graphics, and sculptures, films, photographs, performance pieces, jewels and objects of all descriptions. As important, he left for posterity the permission to explore all aspects of one’s own life and to give them artistic expression.

Whether working from pure inspiration or on a commissioned illustration, Dali's matchless insight and symbolic complexity are apparent. Above all, Dali was a superb draftsman. His excellence as a creative artist will always set a standard for the art of the twentieth century.