Dalí was a colorful and imposing presence in his ever-present
long cape, walking stick, haughty expression, and upturned waxed
mustache.
"Every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure:
that of being Salvador Dalí."
Birth: May 11, 1904
Death: January 23, 1989 (age 84)
Birthplace: Catalonia, Spain
Training: San Fernando School of Fine Arts, Madrid
Associated Art Movement: Surrealism, but also Cubism and Dadaism
Trivia
- 1969: designed the Chupa Chups logo
- also created the advertising aspect of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest
- In the late 1930s, Dalí switched to painting in a more academic style under the influence of the Renaissance painter Raphael, and as a consequence he was expelled from the Surrealist movement
- Two of the most popular objects of the surrealist movement were the Lobster Telephone and the Mae West Lips Sofa
- 1982: King Juan Carlos of Spain gave Dali the title Marquis of Pubol; Dali gave him his last ever creation, "The Head of Europa" in return when the King came to visit on his deathbed
What did he produce?
Salvador Dalí produced over 1,500 paintings in his career. He also created book illustrations, photographs, lithographs, designs for theater sets and costumes, drawings, dozens of sculptures. including an animated cartoon for Disney. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the unfinished Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on the dream sequence from his 1945 film Spellbound, seen below.
What were his influences?
Early on in the 1920s, he was influenced by:
- Sigmund Freud's writings on the erotic significance of subconscious imagery
- Albert Einstein and his scientific theories
- Paris Surrealists, a group of artists and writers who wanted to establish the "greater reality" of man's subconscious over his reason
- In his youth, Dalí embraced for a time both anarchism and communism - making statements meant to shock, not because of deep conviction
To bring up images from his subconscious mind, Dalí
began to induce hallucinatory states in himself by a process he
described as "paranoiac critical".
Why is
The Persistence of Memory so special?
This is Dali's most famous work because it is a perfect example of his Surrealist style and technique. He often depicted a dream world in which ordinary objects are deformed, morphed or placed in a bizarre manner. Dalí portrayed these objects in painfully realistic detail and usually placed them within bleak, sunlit landscapes which reflect his hometown Catalonia in Spain. The top painting is The Persistence of Memory (1931), and below is a lesser-known work of his called The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1954), his thoughts on the idea of physics above psychology.
What inspired Dali in painting the The Persistence of Memory?
Note the melted watches in a bare, hot landscape - the watches suggest Einstein's theory that time is relative and not fixed. The idea for clocks functioning symbolically in this way came to Dalí when he was staring at a runny piece of Camembert cheese during a hot day in August.
Other Notable Works
Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944)
Dali said that he intended for the painting to express Freud's discovery of a long dream and the consequences of a chance event which causes the sleeper to wake. The noise of the bee here provokes the sensation of the sting which will awaken Gala (the woman). Note the bayonet, the two tigers and the fish coming out from the pomegranate. The elephant is a distorted verin the background is a distorted version of a well-known sculpture by Bernini located in Rome.
Homage to Newton (1985)
Cast in bronze with dark patina, this sculpture in honour of Isaac Newton that Dali created is currently at the UOB Plaza, Singapore. Note the open torso and suspended heart to indicate an open heart, and an open head indicating "open-mindedness" - the two very qualities important for science discovery and successful human endeavours.
The Royal
Heart (1985)
Between 1941 - 1970, Dalí created many jewels (39 in total). Some
contain actual moving parts. The most famous jewel is "The Royal
Heart", crafted using gold and encrusted with 46 rubies, 42
diamonds and 4 emeralds. The center "beats" like a real heart.
What
was his relationship with his father like?
Dali's father disapproved of his son's romance with his future
wife, Gala, and his connection to the Surrealists in terms of their
morals.
The last straw was when he read that his son had a drawing of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ with the provocative saying:
"Sometimes, I spit for fun on my mother's portrait". His father
demanded an apology but Dali refused, perhaps fearing he would be
expelled from the Surrealist group. He was thrown out of his
father's home, disinherited him and told him never to see foot in
his town again.
George Orwell: "One ought to be able to hold in one's head
simultaneously the two facts that Dalí is a good draughtsman [a
drawer] and a disgusting human being. The one does not invalidate
or, in a sense, affect the other."
Image Credits
Wikipedia
Virtual Dali
