Salvador Dali

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Salvador Dali

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Basic Data
Art For Sale
Biography
Exhibitions
Awards
Films
Literature
Own Writings
Collections
Weblinks

Basic Data

Salvador Dali was a famous Spanish artist, writer, sculptor and filmmaker who, along with Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, Max Ernst and Pierre Delveaux, is considered the main representative of Surrealism and one of the most important artists of the 20th century.

Born: 11 May 1904
Place of birth: Figueras, Spain
Died on: 23 January 1989
Nationality: Spanish
Studied at: Academia San Fernando, Madrid
Teachers: Juan Núnez Fernández
Similar artists: Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall
Era: modern art
Stylistic direction: Surrealism

In Salvador Dali's diverse oeuvre, which he created from the 1930s onwards, he deals with the mystical, the symbolic and the subconscious. He renders his symbolic motifs in photorealistic detail and old-master technique. Disintegrating clocks, lobster phones, or burning giraffes became the trademark of the Surrealist, who also polarized the art world with his eccentric personality.

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Salvador Dali Etching Der kranke Hirsch

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Biography

Childhood & youth

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He grew up in a wealthy family, but his childhood was characterized by deep emotional conflict. Dalí was named after an older brother who had died in infancy nine months before his birth. This fact left a lasting impression on the young Salvador, who often felt like a substitute for his deceased brother. This early confrontation with identity and death would later become an important theme in his art.

Even as a child, Dalí showed exceptional artistic talent and his parents supported his talent. At the age of 10, he took drawing lessons, and in 1922 he moved to Madrid to study at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. During this time, Dalí became known in Madrid's art scene and made friends with other artists and intellectuals, including the poet Federico García Lorca and the filmmaker Luis Buñuel. However, his rebellious behavior and eccentric character quickly became a trademark. In 1926, he was expelled from the Academy for indiscipline, which he saw as a liberation from the constraints of the academic system.

Early career and Surrealism

In the 1920s, Dalí moved to Paris, where he joined the up-and-coming Surrealist movement led by André Breton. In Paris, Dalí met artists such as Pablo Picasso, whose works made a deep impression on him. Dalí began to experiment with Cubism and Futurism before developing his own style, which combined Surrealist and psychological elements. His first surrealist works were created in the mid-1920s, and Dalí began to develop his unique visual language, characterized by dream worlds, sexual symbols and irrational scenarios.

Dalí's connection to Surrealism is strengthened by his encounter with Sigmund Freud's theories on the unconscious and the interpretation of dreams. He integrated Freud's ideas into his art and created a pictorial world that focused on the unconscious, fears and desires. Dalí develops the technique of the “paranoiac-critical method”, which aims to activate the subconscious and generate irrational associations in order to create new realities.

A central work of this early surrealist phase is “The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí” (1931), in which he stages his own life and psychological processes in a dramatic and often bizarre way. Dalí achieved international fame with works such as “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), a painting depicting melting clocks in a surreal, dreamlike landscape. For many viewers, this work symbolizes the relativity of time and space and is today one of the best-known works of Surrealism.

The collaboration with Gala and his rise to stardom

A key moment in Dalí's life was his meeting with Gala Éluard in 1929. Gala, who had previously been married to the surrealist poet Paul Éluard, became Dalí's muse, lover and eventually wife. She exerted a profound influence on his art and his life and remained a central figure in his life until her death in 1982. Gala inspired Dalí to create some of his most important works and is often depicted in his paintings. Her support and business acumen help Dalí build his career as one of the most famous and eccentric artists of his time.

In the 1930s, Dalí became one of the leading representatives of Surrealism and became internationally renowned. His paintings increasingly show a mixture of dream worlds, religious symbols and fantastic, often grotesque depictions of sexuality and violence. Dalí developed a unique visual language that often combined paranoid scenes and disturbing symbols, such as melting clocks, distorted bodies and symbolic animals.

In 1936, Dalí caused a sensation with his performance at the Surrealist Exhibition in London when he appeared in a diving suit to talk about Surrealism. This bizarre and theatrical appearance became part of Dalí's public persona, marking him out as an eccentric and self-confident artist.

The war years and the break with Surrealism

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Dalí moved to the USA with Gala, where he spent eight years. During this time, Dalí increasingly distanced himself from the Surrealist movement, which eventually excluded him. André Breton, who disapproved of Dalí's egocentricity and commercial success, accused him of betraying his Surrealist roots. Dalí himself, however, claimed that “Surrealism is me” and continued to pursue his own artistic vision.

During his stay in the USA, Dalí became a popular artist, known not only for his painting but also for his work in the fields of film, fashion and design. He worked with Walt Disney on the animated short film “Destino” and designed the surrealist dream segment for Alfred Hitchcock's film “Spellbound” (1945). Dalí's ability to market his eccentric personality and his art in the mass media made him one of the first “pop stars” in the art world.

Return to Spain and late works

After the war, Dalí returned to Europe and settled in Port Lligat, Spain, where he spent the rest of his life. In the late 1940s, Dalí increasingly turned to religious and scientific themes. He developed a phase that he described as “nuclear mysticism”, in which he combined elements of quantum physics, mathematics and Christian mysticism. Works such as “Christ of St. John of the Cross” (1951) and “The Last Supper” (1955) show Dalí's new, religiously inspired visual language, in which he combines realistic and symbolic elements to explore metaphysical themes.

His later pictures and works are often monumental paintings that take up religious and historical themes and are characterized by his preoccupation with science. Dalí remained productive into old age and expanded his artistic repertoire to include sculptures, films and even the design of jewelry.

Late years, death and legacy

In the 1970s, Dalí fell seriously ill and the death of his beloved wife Gala in 1982 plunged him into a deep depression. He spent his last years largely isolated in his residence in Figueres, where he died on January 23, 1989 at the age of 84.

Salvador Dalí left behind a profound artistic legacy that had a lasting influence on the art of the 20th century. As one of the main representatives of surrealism, Dalí is known for his ability to translate dreams, fantasies and the subconscious into powerful and disturbing images. His works are now exhibited in the world's most important museums, including the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, which he designed himself, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Dalí's art, his eccentric personality and his vision of merging reality with the unconscious have inspired generations of artists, filmmakers and designers. He remains one of the most iconic and controversial figures in art history.

Exhibitions

29.05.21 - 22.11.21 Arcimboldo Face to Face - Centre Pompidou-Metz, Paris.
18.12.20 - 25.04.21 Cybernetics of the Poor - Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna.
23.10.20 - 07.03.21 Dalí - Freud - Belvedere, Vienna.
06.10.20 - 27.11.20 Dreamsongs: From Medicine To Demons To Artificial Intelligence - Colnaghi London.
11.09.20 - 31.01.21 Zin Ex. From Abstraction to Algorithm - Tabakalera, San Sebastian.
23.10.20 - 07.03.21 Dalí – Freud – Belvedere, Vienna.
16.02.20 - 17.05.20 Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí - Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, USA.
15.02.20 - 24.05.20 The Tears of Eros. Moesman, Surrealism and the Sexes - Centraal Museum Utrecht.
19.10.19 - 23.02.20 Michael Müller. "DEINE KUNST" The Conditions of Being Art (oder der Amateur) Dritte Fassung - Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg.
13.10.18 - 10.02.19 Brisante Träume. Die Kunst der Weltausstellung - MARTa Herford.
10.10.2018 - 27.01.2019 Modern Couples. Art, Intimacy and the Avantgarde - Barbican Centre, London.
13.09.2018 - 20.01.2019 THE MOON. From Inner Worlds to Outer Space - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk.
19.05.2017 - 05.11.2017 Medusa. Bijoux et tabous - Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
18.03.2017 - 28.08.2017 Infinite Garden. From Giverny to Amazonia - Centre Pompidou-Metz.
11.02.2017 - 28.05.2017 Mad About Surrealism - Dalí, Ernst, Magritte, Miró... - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
07.10.2016 - 22.01.2017 Dalí, Ernst, Miró, Magritte ... - Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
10.09.2016 - 29.01.2017 Salvador Dalí. Das graphische Werk - Kunsthaus Stade.
29.10.2015 - 15.02.2016 MARVELOUS OBJECTS: SURREALIST SCULPTURE FROM PARIS TO NEW YORK - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington.
09.07.2014 - 05.10.2014 Dada and Surrealism. Magritte, Duchamp, Man Ray, Miró, Dalí. - Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest.
30.05.2014 - 22.09.2014 Salvador Dalí - Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro.
03.11.2013 - 02.03.2014 The Surrealists: Works from the Collection - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
27.04.2013 - 02.09.2013 Dalí. All of the poetic suggestions and all of the plastic possibilities - Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid.
21.11.2012 - 25.03.2013 Salvador Dalí - Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Awards

1982: Appointment as „Marqués de Púbol“, Madrid.
1982: Gold Medal of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
1981: Great cross Karls III.
1978: Appointment as a foreign honorary member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris.
1973: Appointment as a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes di San Fernando, Madrid.
1967: Award of the honorary doctorate of the Académie de la Fourrure.
1964: Orden de Isabel la Católica.

Films

Dalí & I. The Surreal Story. feature film by Andrew Niccol, USA 2014.
Little Ashes, feature film by Paul Morrison, 122min, USA 2009.
Die geheime Sammlung des Salvador Dalí, fictional documentation by Otto Kelmer, 70min, Deutschland 1992.
The Soft Self Portrait of Salvador Dali, Documentation by Jean-Christophe Averty, 55min, USA 1970.
L'Autoportrait mou de Salvador Dalì. Documentation by Jean-Christophe Averty, 70min, France 1966.

Literature

Dalí, Christopher Masters, Berlin 2020.
Der Schnitt als Denkfigur im Surrealismus: Max Ernst, Man Ray, Luis Buñuel und Salvador Dalí, Sarah Hadda, Bielefeld 2019.
Dalí, Victoria Charles, New York 2017.
Dali, Eric Shanes, New York 2017.
Salvador Dalí: Aus der Sicht seiner Schwester, Ana María Dalí & Alexandra Gajewski, Norderstedt 2017.
Surrealismus, Nathalia Brodskaïa, New York 2017.
Dalís Bärte: eine Hommage, Boris Friedewald, Munich 2016.
Surreale Begegnungen. Dalí, Ernst, Miró, Magritte ..., exhibition catalog, Annabelle Görgen & Hubertus Gassner (Publ.), Munich 2016.
Dalís 20. Jahrhundert: die westliche Kunst zwischen Politik, Markt und Medien, Gabriel Montua, Berlin, Boston 2015.
Dalís Medienspiele: Falsche Fährten und paranoische Selbstinszenierungen in den Künsten, Isabel Maurer Queipo & Nanette Rißler-Pipka (Publ.), Bielefeld 2015.
Salvador Dalí: 1904 - 1989. der Sieg des Irrationalen, Gilles Néret, Cologne 2015.
Salvador Dalí & Philippe Halsman: das gemeinsame Werk, Anna Feldhaus, Heidelberg, Berlin 2015.

Own Writings

Les Vins de Gala, Salvador Dali, Paris 1977.
Unabhängigkeitserklärung der Phantasie und Erklärung der Rechte des Menschen auf seine Verrücktheit, Salvador Dali, Munich 1974.
Les Dîners de Gala. Draeger, Salvador Dali, Paris 1973.
Diario De Un Genio, Salvador Dali, Paris 1964.
Hidden Faces, Salvador Dali, New York 1944
Métamorphose de Narcisse, Salvador Dali, Paris, New York 1937.
L’amour et la mémoire, Salvador Dali, Paris 1931.
La femme visible, Salvador Dali, Paris 1930.
Das gelbe Manifest, Salvador Dali, 1928.