Salvador DALI
1904–1989, Spain
Salvador Dalí wird 1904 in Figueras (Katalanien) geboren. 1921-26 studiert er an der Kunstakademie in Madrid. Bis 1927 zeigen seine Werke den Einfluss des französischen Kubismus sowie des italienischen Futurismus, ebenso orientiert er sich jedoch auch an der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Daneben beschäftigt Sich Salvador Dalí intensiv mit Sigmund Freuds Theorien zur Psychoanalyse. 1927 entsteht das Gemälde "Honig ist süßer als Blut", das Dalís Entwicklung zum surrealistischen Maler ankündigt.
Im Jahr 1928 ist Salvador Dalí erstmals in Paris, wo er von seinem Landsmann Joan Miró in den Surrealisten-Kreis eingeführt wird. 1929 übersiedelt Dalí nach Paris. Bei den Surrealisten lernt er die Russin Elena Diakonova, besser bekannt als Gala, kennen. Sie ist mit Paul Éluard verheiratet, wird jedoch bald Dalís Geliebte. 1934 lässt sich Gala von Paul Éluard scheiden und heiratet Salvador Dalí. Gala wird Dalís langjährige Lebensgefährtin, ist Muse, Inspiration und zugleich Obsession des exzentrischen Künstlers.
1929 findet in Paris die erste Einzelausstellung Salvador Dalís statt, André Breton verfasst dafür den Katalogtext. 1929 entsteht auch der surrealistische Film "Ein andalusischer Hund", den Dalí gemeinsam mit Luis Buñuel dreht. Die Sujets von Dalís bildnerischen Werken werden zu immer phantastischeren Kompositionen. Die Akribie seines Farbauftrags betont dabei die kühle Sachlichkeit, mit der er seine Visionen und Traumfiguren darstellt.
1934 schafft Salvador Dalí die Illustrationen zu Lautréamonts "Chant de Maldoror", seine Bildfindungen werden zu einer reichen Inspirationsquelle für die Surrealisten. 1958 illustriert Dalí den "Don Quichotte". Er entwirft auch mehrere Bühnendekorationen für Ballettaufführungen.
1940-48 lebt Dalí in den USA. 1942 schreibt er seine Autobiografie "Das geheime Leben des Salvador Dalí", die viel von der Exzentrik seines Lebensstils beinhaltet. 1944 erscheint sein erster Roman "Hidden Faces" ("Verborgene Gesichter"). Er wird Mitarbeiter bei Mode- und Lifestyle-Zeitschriften wie "Harper’s Bazaar" und "Vogue", er entwirft für die Modedesignerin Elsa Schiaparelli Modeaccessoires sowie Schmuck und Parfüms.
Nachdem Salvador Dalí 1948 nach Spanien zurückgekehrt ist, wendet er sich vorwiegend religiösen und mythologischen Bildthemen zu und bekennt sich zum Katholizismus. Anfang der 1970er Jahre arbeitet Dalí intensiv an dreidimensionalen Werken und experimentiert mit holographischen Collagen.
Salvador Dalí gilt mit Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, Max Ernst und Pierre Delveaux zu den Hauptvertretern der surrealistischen Malerei, er stirbt 1989 im spanischen Figueras.
Source: http://www.salvador--dali.de/
1904
Born on 11 May in Figueres (Girona). Son of the notary public Salvador Dalí Cusí and his wife Felipa Domènech Ferrés.
1908
The couple’s only daughter, Anna Maria, was born. His father enrolled Salvador at the State Primary School, under the teacher Esteve Trayter.
1910
Two years later, and due to that first option having failed, his father decided to enrol Salvador at the Hispano-French School of the Immaculate Conception in Figueres, where he learned French, the language that was to become his cultural vehicle.
1916
Salvador spent periods on the outskirts of Figueres, at the Molí de la Torre estate owned by the Pichot family, a family of intellectuals and artists; it was there, through the collection owned by the painter Ramon Pichot, that he discovered Impressionism. After a mediocre primary school period, in the autumn he began his secondary schooling at the Marist Brothers’ school and at Figueres grammar school. He also attended the classes taught by Juan Núñez at the Municipal Drawing School in Figueres.
1919
Took part in a group exhibition at the Societat de Concerts rooms in Figueres’ Municipal Theatre (which was years later to become the Dalí Theatre-Museum). With a group of grammar-school friends he founded Studium magazine, in which he published his first articles. He began a personal diary entitled Les meves impressions i records íntims (My Personal Impressions and Private Memories), which he continued through the following year.
1920
If he were set on becoming a painter, his father made it a condition that he go to Madrid to study at the Fine Arts School, in order to qualify as a teacher. Dalí accepted to do so.
1921
His mother died in February. The following year, his father married Catalina Domènech Ferrés, the deceased woman’s sister.
1922
He took part in the Students Original Art Works Competition Exhibition of the Catalan Students’ Association, held at Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona, where his work Market was awarded the University Vice-Chancellor’s prize. In Madrid, he attended the Special Painting, Sculpture and Engraving School (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) and lived at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he befriended a group of young people who were also to become with time leading intellectual and artistic personalities: Luis Buñuel, Federico García Lorca, Pedro Garfias, Eugenio Montes and Pepín Bello, among others.
1923
He was expelled from the Academia de San Fernando, accused of having led a student protest against the painter Daniel Vázquez Díaz not having been granted the chair of Painting at the Painting School. He returned to Figueres, where he took up his classes again with Juan Núñez, who instructed him in the technique of etching.
1924
In autumn he returned to the Academia de San Fernando from which he had been expelled, being now obliged to repeat an academic year.
1925
He took part in the First Exhibition of the Iberian Artists Society in Madrid, while at Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona he presented his first individual exhibition. This was his period of rejecting the vanguard and questing for a pictorial tradition, essentially an Italian one. Over this academic year, 1925-1926, he did not return to the Academia de San Fernando. Federico García Lorca spent the holidays with Dalí in Cadaqués.
1926
He participated in several exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona. In the company of his aunt and his sister, he made his first trip to Paris, where he met Picasso and visited the Louvre Museum. He was expelled for good from the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Madrid for declaring the Tribunal that was to examine him incompetent. He returned once more to Figueres and devoted himself intensely to painting.
1927
He held his second individual exhibition at Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona and took part in the Second Autumn Salon at the city’s Sala Parés gallery. The works presented reveal the first clear influences of surrealism. He did his military service at Sant Ferran castle in Figueres. With publication of the article “San Sebastián”, devoted to Lorca, there began Dalí’s regular and extensive collaboration with the vanguardist journal L’Amic de les Arts, in a relationship that was to continue until 1929.
1928
Along with Lluís Montanyà and Sebastià Gasch he published the Yellow Manifesto (Catalan Anti-Artistic Manifesto) that amounted to a fierce attack on conventional art. He took part in the Third Autumn Salon at Sala Parés and in the Twenty-seventh International Exhibition of Paintings in Pittsburgh, United States.
1929
He travelled again to Paris and, through Joan Miró, came into contact with the group of surrealists headed by André Breton. The film Un chien andalou was shown at Paris’ Studio des Ursulines, being the fruit of his collaboration with Luis Buñuel. He spent the summer in Cadaqués, where he received a visit from the gallery-owner Camille Goemans and a friend of his, as well as René Magritte and his wife, Luis Buñuel, Paul Eluard and Gala, and the couple’s daughter Cécile. From that time on, Gala was never to leave his side. He took part in the group exhibition Abstrakte und surrealistische Malerei und Plastik at the Kunsthaus in Zurich. His first individual exhibition was held at Galerie Goemans in Paris. This was a year of family break-up.
1930
L’âge d’or (The Age of Gold), the second film he made in collaboration with Buñuel, had its first performance at Studio 28 in Paris. Éditions Surréalistes published his book La femme visible (The Visible Woman), a compilation of articles that had previously appeared in various magazines, such as “The Putrified Donkey”, in which he laid the foundations for his paranoiac-critical method.
By the beginning of the ‘thirties Dalí had found his own style, his private language and the form of expression that was to remain with him thereafter and, while changing and evolving, would be the one we are all familiar with and that so well defines him — a mixture of vanguard and tradition. Behind him lay his first Impressionist canvases and his works influenced, among other movements, by Cubism, purism and futurism. Dalí had become fully integrated into surrealism, and there began his consecration as a painter.
1931
Staged his first individual exhibition at Galerie Pierre Colle in Paris, where he exhibited his work The Persistence of Memory. He also took part in the first surrealist exhibition in the United States, held at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. His book L’amour et la mémoire (Love and Memory).
1932
He took part in the exhibition Surrealism: Paintings, Drawings and Photographs, organised by the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. His second individual exhibition was held at Galerie Pierre Colle in Paris. His book Babaouo, in which he outlined his conception of cinema. At the end of this year, Dalí announced to the Viscount of Noailles the creation of the Zodiaque Group, a group of friends who joined together to help Salvador Dalí financially by commissioning him to create works that they then purchased on a regular basis.
1933
The first issue of the Paris-based magazine Minotaure published the prologue to the book that remained unpublished until 1963 Interprétation paranoïaque-critique de l'image obsédante "L'Angélus" de Millet (Paranoiac-critical Interpretation of the Obsessive Image The Angelus by Millet). He took part in a collective surrealist exhibition at Galerie Pierre Colle, where he also presented his third individual exhibition. First individual exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York.
1934
Enters into civil matrimony with Gala (née Elena Ivanovna Diakonova). He exhibited at the Exposition du Cinquantenaire in the Salon des Indépendants of the Grand Palais in Paris, without taking account of the opinion of the rest of the surrealists, who had decided not to participate in it, which nearly led to Dalí being expelled from the group led by Breton. He staged his first individual exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery in London. Along with Gala he boarded vessel Champlain to make his first journey to the United States. Two individual Dalí exhibitions were held, one at the Julien Levy Gallery and another at the Avery Memorial of the Wadsworth Atheneum, in Hartford (Connecticut).
1935
The couple returned to Europe on board the Normandie. Salvador Dalí went to Figueres in March, where a family reconciliation took place. Éditions Surréalistes published his book La conquête de l'irrationnel (The Conquest of the Irrational).
1936
In May he took part in the Exposition Surréaliste d’Objets at the Galerie Charles Ratton in Paris. In June he took part in the International Surrealist Exhibition held at the New Burlington Galleries in London. On December 14th, Time devoted its cover to him, with photography by Man Ray. He took part in the exhibition Fantastic Art Dada Surrealism at the MOMA in New York. His third individual exhibition was held at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York.
1937
In February he met the Marx Brothers in Hollywood. Along with Harpo, he began work on the script for a film entitled Giraffes on Horseback Salad (but called in its latest version The Surrealist Woman), which was never actually produced. Dalí and Gala returned to Europe. Éditions Surréalistes published his poem “The Metamorphosis of Narcissus”, which the gallery-owner Julien Levy also published at the same time in English.
1938
January 17th saw the inauguration at Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris of the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, organised by André Breton and Paul Eluard, with Salvador Dalí’s Rainy Taxi exhibited at the entrance to the gallery. In London, Dalí visited Sigmund Freud.
1939
On March he presented his individual exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery. He designed the Dream of Venus pavilion, which was presented in the World’s Fair of New York amusement zone. The Metropolitan Opera House of New York staged the first performance of the ballet Bacchanale, with libretto, costumes and sets by Salvador Dalí and choreography by Léonide Massine. Breton’s article “Latest Tendencies in Surrealist Painting” brought about Dalí’s expulsion from the surrealist group. In September the couple returned once more to Europe.
1940
When the German troops entered Bordeaux, the Dalí couple went to live in the United States, where they were to remain until 1948.
1941
Dalí’s interest in jewellery design began, this being an enthusiasm that was to last throughout his entire artistic career. He began his professional relationship with the photographer Philippe Halsman, which was to continue right up to the latter’s death in 1979. He exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. On October 8th the Ballets Russes de Montecarlo gave their first performance at the Metropolitan Opera House of Labyrinth, with libretto, decors and costumes by Dalí, choreography by Léonide Massine and music by Schubert. New York’s MOMA gallery inaugurated on November 18th an anthological exhibition devoted to Dalí and Miró.
1942
New York’s Dial Press published The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí finished the year before.
1943
In April, the Reynolds Morse couple purchased their first Dalí painting, this was to be the start of a major collection of works by the painter. In May he designed a new ballet, El Café de Chinitas, based on a true story adapted by Federico García Lorca, which was performed in Detroit and at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.
1944
On October at the International Theatre in New York, Ballet International presented Sentimental Colloquy, with sets designed by Dalí. Dial Press published Dalí’s first novel, Hidden Faces. December 15th saw the New York debut by Ballet International of Mad Tristan, the first paranoiac ballet about the eternal legend of love in death. Dalí’s plot was based on the musical themes of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolda.
1945
He went to Hollywood to work with Alfred Hitchcock on the film Spellbound, whose dreamlike sequences were created by Dalí. The Bignou Gallery inaugurated the exhibition Recent Paintings by Salvador Dalí. This served as the occasion for Dalí to present the first volume of Dali News, which he published himself and which dealt solely with the artist and his oeuvre.
1946
He made the illustrations for various works: The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini and Macbeth by Shakespeare, published by Doubleday; The First Part of the Life and Achievements of the Renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, published by Random House of New York. Walt Disney hired Dalí to help produce the film Destino.
1947
Doubleday published the Essays of Michel de Montaigne, selected and illustrated by the painter.
1948
He published 50 Secrets of Magic. The Dalí couple returned to Spain.
1949
The end of the 1940s heralded the onset of his mystical and nuclear period — the corpus of which he set out in his Mystical Manifesto. This was a period characterised by his dealing with religious themes and subjects related with the scientific progress of the times, with a special interest in progress relating to nuclear fusion and fission. The creations of this period reveal how the launch of the atom bomb and its aftermath influenced his creation.
1950
He wrote the articles renowned media such as Vogue and Herald American. He gave a talk on “Why I was Sacrilegious, why I am Mystical” at Barcelona’s Ateneu Barcelonès.
1951
He presented in Paris his Mystical Manifesto, as well as works based on it. He gave a talk called “Picasso and I” at Madrid’s Teatro María Guerrero.
1952-1953
He wrote various articles for French publications as: Arts, Le Courrier des lettres or Connaissance des Arts.
1954
At the Palazzo Pallavicini in Rome he exhibited his drawings to illustrate Dante’s The Divine Comedy. He produced illustrations for various books: La verdadera historia de Lidia de Cadaqués (The True Story of Lídia of Cadaqués) by Eugeni d’Ors and Balada del sabater d’Ordis (Balad of the Cobbler of Ordis) by Carles Fages de Climent, for which Dalí also wrote the epilogue.
1956
He published his treaty on Les cocus du vieil art moderne (The Cuckolded of the Old Modern Art). He also gave a talk in homage to Gaudí at the Güell Park in Barcelona, where he created a work right there before those present.
1958
On August 8th Dalí and Gala were married at the Els Àngels shrine in Sant Martí Vell, near Girona.
1960
He filmed the documentary Chaos and Creation.
1961
The period of gestation of the Dalí Theatre-Museum began this year. In August, his native city paid homage to him.
1963
He published his book Le mythe tragique de “L’Angélus” de Millet (The Tragic Legend of The Angelus by Millet), the manuscript of which remained lost for twenty-two years.
1964
He was awarded the Gran Cruz de Isabel la Católica, the highest Spanish distinction. A great retrospective exhibition was inaugurated in Tokyo, organised by Mainichi Newspapers, and then went on to travel to various Japanese cities. Éditions de La Table Ronde published Journal d’un génie (Diary of a Genius).
1965
The Gallery of Modern Art in New York inaugurated the anthological exhibition Salvador Dali 1910-1965.
1966
Albin Michel of Paris published Dalí’s book Lettre ouverte à Salvador Dalí (Open Letter to Salvador Dalí), with thirty-three illustrations by the artist himself. Entretiens avec Salvador Dalí also appeared, being a book of interviews conducted by Alain Bosquet.
1968
He took part in the exhibition Dada-Surrealism and their Heritage held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As an outcome of his conversations with Louis Pauwels there appeared the book Les passions selon Dalí (The Passions according to Dalí). The year also saw the publication of Dalí de Draeger, in which the painter collaborated and wrote the prologue.
1969
Dalí purchased Púbol Castle and decorated it for Gala. Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s the painter’s interest in science and holography increased, for they offered him new perspectives in his constant quest for mastery of three-dimensional images. Dalí studied and used the potential of the new discoveries, particularly those related with the third dimension. He took an interest in all procedures aimed at offering the viewer an impression of plasticity and space; with the third dimension he aspired to gain access to the fourth, namely, immortality.
1970
He held a press conference at the Gustave Moreau Museum in Paris, in which he announced the creation of the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. The Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam organised a major retrospective exhibition of his work, which in the following year could be seen at the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden (Germany).
1971
Cleveland (Ohio) inaugurated its Dalí Museum to house the A. Reynolds Morse collection. Under the title Oui, an anthology of articles dating from various periods was published.
1972
The Knoedler Galleries presented the first world exhibition of holograms that Dalí had created in collaboration with Dennis Gabor.
1973
A year before its inauguration, the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres presented the exhibition Dalí. His Art in Jewels. This year also saw the publication of his books Comment on devient Dalí (How One Becomes Dalí), with prologue and notes by André Parinaud, and Les dîners de Gala (Gala’s Dinners), published by Draeger. The Louisiana Museum at Humlebeak organised a Dalí retrospective that was later exhibited also at the Moderna Museet of Stockholm.
1974
He wrote the prologue for and illustrated Sigmund Freud’s book, Moses and Monotheism. The Dalí Theatre-Museum was inaugurated on September 28th.
1977
The Draeger publishing house issued Les Vins de Gala (Gala’s Wines).
1978
He presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York his first hyperstereoscopic painting, Dalí Lifting the Skin of the Mediterranean to Show Gala the Birth of Venus.
1979
He was appointed associate overseas member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France. A major Dalí retrospective was inaugurated at the Georges-Pompidou Centre in Paris, as well as the ’”environnement” he had specially designed for the centre. By then well into the 1980s he was to paint his last works, basically taking their inspiration from Michelangelo and Raphael, whom he had always admired.
1980
From 14 May to 29 June, London’s Tate Gallery presented a retrospective of Salvador Dalí, with a total of two hundred and fifty-one works on show.
1982
The Salvador Dalí Museum, owned by the Reynolds Morse couple, was inaugurated in St. Petersburg (Florida). On 10 June Gala died in Portlligat. Spain’s King Juan Carlos I appointed him Marquis of Púbol. Salvador Dalí went to live at Púbol Castle.
1983
A major anthological exhibition, 400 works by Salvador Dalí from 1914 to 1983, was held in Madrid, Barcelona and Figueres. His last pictorial works date from this period.
1984
Following a fire at Púbol Castle, he moved for good to Torre Galatea, Figueres, where he was to remain until his death.
1989
Dalí died at Torre Galatea on 23 January 1989. A major retrospective exhibition Salvador Dalí, 1904-1989 was held at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, and was shown later at the Kunsthaus in Zurich.
Salvador Dalí (Figueres, Gerona, 1904 - Púbol, 1989) Pintor español. Salvador Dalí nació en una madrugada de la primavera de 1904 en el seno de una familia burguesa, hijo de un notario bienpensante y de una sensible dama aficionada a los pájaros. Más tarde escribiría: "A los tres años quería ser cocinero. A los cinco quería ser Napoleón. Mi ambición no ha hecho más que crecer y ahora es la de llegar a ser Salvador Dalí y nada más. Por otra parte, esto es muy difícil, ya que, a medida que me acerco a Salvador Dalí, él se aleja de mí".
Puesto que la persecución sería incesante y el objetivo no habría de alcanzarse nunca y, dado que en ningún recodo de su biografía estaba previsto que hallara el equilibrio y la paz, decidió ser excesivo en todo, intrepretar numerosos personajes y sublimar su angustia en una pluralidad de delirios humorísticos y sórdidos. Se definió a sí mismo como "perverso polimorfo, rezagado y anarquizante", "blando, débil y repulsivo", aunque para conquistar esta laboriosa imagen publicitaria antes hubo de salvar algunas pruebas iniciáticas, y si el juego favorito de su primera infancia era vestir el traje de rey, ya hacia sus diez años, cuando se pinta como El niño enfermo, explora las ventajas de aparentar una constitución frágil y nerviosa.
Su precocidad es sorprendente: a los doce años descubre el estilo de los impresionistas franceses y se hace impresionista, a los catorce ya ha trabado conocimiento con el arte de Picasso y se ha hecho cubista y a los quince se ha convertido en editor de la revista Studium, donde dibuja brillantes pastiches para la sección titulada "Los grandes maestros de la Pintura".
En 1919 abandona su Cataluña natal y se traslada a Madrid, ingresa en la Academia de Bellas Artes y se hace amigo del gran poeta granadino Federico García Lorca y del futuro cineasta surrealista Luis Buñuel, de quien sin embargo se distanciará irreversiblemente en 1930. En la capital adopta un extraordinario atuendo: lleva los cabellos largos, una corbata desproporcionadamente grande y una capa que arrastra hasta los pies. A veces luce una camisa azul cielo, adornada con gemelos de zafiro, se sujeta el pelo con una redecilla y lo lustra con barniz para óleo. Es difícil que su presencia pase desapercibida.
En los revueltos y conflictivos meses de 1923 sufre un desafortunado contratiempo. En la Academia de Bellas Artes a la que está adscrito se producen manifestaciones en contra de un profesor, y antes de que dé comienzo el discurso oficial y se desate la violenta polémica, Salvador abandona la sala. Las autoridades creen que con este gesto ha sido él quien ha dado la señal de ataque y rebelión y deciden expulsarlo durante un año. Después, de nuevo en Figueras, los guardias vienen a detenerlo y pasa una temporada en la cárcel.
A la salida de prisión recibirá dos alegrías. La primera, una prensa para grabado que su padre le regala, y la segunda, la visita de su excelente compañero de la Residencia de Estudiantes de Madrid Federico García Lorca, quien, en las calurosas noches del verano de Cadaqués, lee a toda la familia Dalí sus versos y dramas recién compuestos. Es allí, junto al Mediterráneo, donde García Lorca redacta la célebre "Oda a Salvador Dalí", publicada unos años después, en 1929, en la Revista de Occidente. Pronto será también Luis Buñuel quien llegue a Cadaqués para trabajar con su amigo Salvador en un guión cinematográfico absolutamente atípico y del que surgirá una película tan extraña como es El perro andaluz.
En 1927 Dalí viaja por primera vez a París, pero es al año siguiente cuando se instala en la capital francesa y se une al grupo surrealista que lidera el poeta André Breton. Este último terminará expulsándolo del movimiento algunos años después, en una memorable sesión de enjuiciamiento a la que Dalí compareció cubierto con una manta y con un termómetro en la boca, aparentando ficticiamente estar aquejado de fiebre y convirtiendo así el opresivo juicio en una ridícula farsa.
La triple acusación a la que tuvo entonces que enfrentarse Dalí fue: coquetear con los fascismos, hacer gala de un catolicismo delirante y sentir una pasión desmedida e irrefrenable por el dinero. A esto precisamente alude el célebre apodo anagramático con que fue motejado por Breton, Avida dolars, acusación que lejos de desagradar al pintor le proporcionaba un secreto e irónico placer. De hecho, después de conocer a la que sería su musa y compañera durante toda su vida, Gala, entonces todavía esposa de otro surrealista, el poeta Paul Eluard, Dalí declaró románticamente: "Amo a Gala más que a mi madre, más que a mi padre, más que a Picasso y más, incluso, que al dinero."
Salvador se enamoró de Gala en el verano de 1929 y con ella gozó por primera vez de las mieles del erotismo. Es la época en que pinta Adecuación del deseo, Placeres iluminados y El gran masturbador, pintura esta última que fue atacada y desgarrada por el fanático grupo puritano los Camelots du Roy. Mientras tiene lugar una exposición de sus obras en la Galería Goemans de París, la joven y apasionada pareja se refugia y aísla en la Costa Azul, pasando los días y las noches encerrados en una pequeña habitación de un hotel con los postigos cerrados.
Enterado el padre de Salvador de la vida disoluta de su hijo por un artículo de Eugenio d'Ors aparecido en La Gaceta Literaria, rompe relaciones con su vástago; pero ello no debió afectarlo demasiado, o quizás sí, puesto que es en esa época en que el artista realiza lo mejor de su obra, como el célebre cuadro Persistencia de la memoria (1931), donde blandos relojes cuelgan de la rama de un árbol, del borde de un pedestal y sobre una misteriosa forma tendida en la vasta extensión de la playa.
En 1934 viaja con su ya inseparable Gala a Estados Unidos, donde desembarca y se presenta ante los periodistas con un enorme pan cocido por el cocinero del trasatlántico que les ha transportado. En sus erráticas manifestaciones no duda en asociar el mito hitleriano con el teléfono y a Lenin con el béisbol. Son todas bromas absurdas que tratan de quitar hierro a una situación política amenazante. Dos años después se desata la atroz guerra civil en España y una de las primeras muestras de la probidad de los militares insurrectos es el infame asesinato de su amigo Federico García Lorca, crimen que conmocionó a la opinión pública internacional. Dalí escribió: "Lorca tenía personalidad para dar y vender, la suficiente para ser fusilado, antes que cualquier otro, por cualquier español."
En 1938 conoce por fin, gracias al escritor vienés Stefan Zweig, a Sigmund Freud, quien había sido el gran inspirador de la estética surrealista, de la que Dalí no se siente marginado pese a las bravatas de Breton, sino que por el contrario se considera el único y más genuino exponente. El padre del psiconálisis había dado pábulo a la nueva indagación del inconsciente con su libro La interpretación de los sueños (1900), pero nunca se había tomado demasiado en serio a sus jóvenes admiradores de París.
No obstante, el 20 de julio de 1938, tras el encuentro, Freud anotó en su diario: "Hasta entonces me sentía tentado de considerar a los surrealistas, que aparentemente me han elegido como santo patrón, como locos integrales (digamos al 95%, como el alcohol puro). Aquel joven español, con sus espléndidos ojos de fanático e innegable dominio técnico, me movió a reconsiderar mi opinión". Por su parte, el artista realizó asombrosos y alucinantes retratos del "santo patrón" de los surrealistas.
Instalado otra vez en Nueva York en 1939, Dalí acepta un encargo para decorar unos escaparates comerciales. El tema que elige es el del Día y la Noche, el primero evocado por un maniquí que se mete en una bañera peluda y la segunda, por medio de brasas y paños negros extendidos, pero la dirección modifica el decorado sin consultar al autor. Dalí, iracundo, vuelca la bañera de astracán llena de agua y la lanza contra los cristales del escaparate produciendo un gran estrépito y un notable destrozo.
Pese a que la opinión pública norteamericana le aplaude el vigor con que ha sabido defender la propiedad intelectual, es juzgado por los tribunales y condenado a pagar los desperfectos. Tampoco consigue concluir su siguiente proyecto para decorar un pabellón de la Feria Internacional de Nueva York, el cual debía llevar el significativo título de Sueño de Venus.
A España regresó en 1948, fijando su residencia de nuevo en Port-Lligat y hallando en el régimen del general Franco toda suerte de facilidades. El gobierno incluso declaró aquel rincón catalán que tanto fascinaba al pintor "Paraje pintoresco de interés nacional". Para muchos historiadores del arte lo mejor de su obra ya había sido realizado y, sin embargo, aún le quedaban cuarenta años de caprichosa producción y de irreductible endiosamiento y exhibicionismo, con apariciones públicas del estilo de la que protagonizó en diciembre de 1955, cuando se personó en la Universidad de la Sorbona de París para dar una conferencia en un Rolls Royce repleto de coliflores. En vida del artista incluso se fundó un Museo Dalí en Figueras; ese escenográfico, abigarrado y extraño monumento a su proverbial egolatría es uno de los museos más visitados de España.
Durante los años setenta, Dalí, que había declarado que la pintura era "una fotografía hecha a mano", fue el avalador del estilo hiperrealista internacional que, saliendo de su paleta, no resultó menos inquietante que su prolija indagación anterior sobre el ilimitado y equívoco universo onírico. Pero quien más y quien menos recuerda mejor que sus cuadros su repulsivo bigote engominado, y no falta quien afirme haberlo visto en el Liceo, el lujoso teatro de la ópera de Barcelona, elegantemente ataviado con frac y luciendo en el bolsillo de la pechera, a guisa de vistoso pañuelo, una fláccida tortilla a la francesa.
En su testamento, el controvertido artista legaba gran parte de su patrimonio al Estado español, provocando de ese modo, incluso después de su muerte, acaecida en 1989, tras una larga agonía, nuevas y enconadas polémicas. El novelista Italo Calvino escribió que "nada es más falsificable que el inconsciente"; acaso esta verdad paradójica y antifreudiana sea la gran lección del creador del método paranoico-crítico, de ese maestro del histrionismo y la propaganda, de ese pintor desaforado y perfeccionista, de ese eximio prestidigitador y extravagante ciudadano que fue Salvador Dalí. El chiflado prolífico del Ampurdán, la llanura catalana barrida por el vertiginoso viento del norte que recoge las suaves olas del mar Mediterráneo en una costa tortuosa y arriscada, descubrió el arte de la mixtificación y el simulacro, de la mentira, el disimulo y el disfraz antes incluso de aprender a manejar su lápiz con la exactitud disparatada y estéril de los sueños.
Su longeva existencia, tercamente consagrada a torturar la materia y los lienzos con los frutos más perversos de su feraz imaginación, se mantuvo igualmente fiel a un paisaje deslumbrante de su infancia: Port-Lligat, una bahía abrazada de rocas donde el espíritu se remansa, ora para elevarse hacia los misterios más sublimes, ora para corromperse como las aguas quietas. Místico y narciso, Salvador Dalí, quizás uno de los mayores pintores del siglo XX, convirtió la irresponsabilidad provocativa no en una ética, pero sí en una estética, una lúgubre estética donde lo bello ya no se concibe sin que contenga el inquietante fulgor de lo siniestro. Dalí exhibió de forma provocativa todas las circunstancias íntimas de su vida y su pensamiento.
Source: http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/d/dali.htm
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, connu comme Salvador Dalí, marquis de Dalí de Púbol, né à Figueras le 11 mai 1904 et mort dans la même ville le 23 janvier 1989, est un peintre, sculpteur, graveur, scénariste et écrivain catalan de nationalité espagnole. Il est considéré comme l'un des principaux représentants du surréalisme et comme l'un des plus célèbres peintres du xxe siècle.
Influencé très jeune par l'impressionnisme, il quitta Figueras pour recevoir une éducation artistique académique à Madrid où il se lia d'amitié avec Federico García Lorca et Luis Buñuel et chercha son style entre différents mouvements artistiques. Sur les conseils de Joan Miró, il rejoignit Paris à l'issue de ses études et intégra le groupe des surréalistes où il rencontra sa femme Gala. Il trouva son propre style à partir de 1929, année où il devint surréaliste à part entière et inventa la méthode paranoïaque-critique. Exclu de ce groupe quelques années après, il vécut la guerre d'Espagne en exil en Europe avant de quitter la France en guerre pour New York où il fit fortune et résida huit ans. À son retour en Catalogne en 1949, il opéra un virage vers le catholicisme, se rapprocha de la peinture de la Renaissance et s’inspira des évolutions scientifiques de son temps pour faire évoluer son style vers ce qu'il nomma « mysticisme corpusculaire ».
Les thèmes qu'il aborda le plus fréquemment furent le rêve, la sexualité, le comestible, sa femme Gala et la religion. La Persistance de la mémoire est l'une de ses toiles surréalistes les plus célèbres, le Christ de saint Jean de la Croix est l'une de ses principales toiles à motif religieux. Artiste très imaginatif, il manifestait une tendance notable au narcissisme et à la mégalomanie qui lui permettaient de retenir l'attention publique mais irritaient une partie du monde de l'art qui voyait dans ce comportement une forme de publicité qui dépassait parfois son œuvre. Deux musées lui furent dédiés de son vivant, le Salvador Dali Museum et le théâtre-musée Dalí. Dalí créa lui-même le second, comme une œuvre surréaliste à part entière.
La sympathie de Dalí pour Francisco Franco, son excentricité et ses œuvres tardives font de l'analyse de son œuvre comme de sa personne des thèmes difficiles et sujets à controverses...
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, marchese di Púbol (Figueres, 11 maggio 1904 – Figueres, 23 gennaio 1989), è stato un pittore, scultore, scrittore, cineasta, designer e sceneggiatore spagnolo.
Dalí era un pittore tecnicamente abile e virtuosissimo disegnatore[1] ma è celebre anche per le immagini suggestive e bizzarre delle sue opere surrealiste. Il suo peculiare tocco pittorico è stato attribuito all'influenza che ebbero su di lui i maestri del Rinascimento. Realizzò una delle sue opere più famose, La persistenza della memoria, nel 1931. Il talento artistico di Dalí trovò espressione in svariati ambiti, tra cui il cinema, la scultura e la fotografia, portandolo a collaborare con artisti di ogni settore.
Faceva risalire il suo "amore per tutto ciò che è dorato ed eccessivo, la mia passione per il lusso e la mia predilezione per gli abiti orientali" ad una auto-attribuita "discendenza araba", sostenendo che i suoi antenati discendevano dai Mori.
Dalí fu un uomo dotato di una grande immaginazione ma con il vezzo di assumere atteggiamenti stravaganti per attirare l'attenzione su di sé. Tale comportamento ha talvolta irritato coloro che hanno amato la sua arte tanto quanto ha infastidito i suoi detrattori, in quanto i suoi modi eccentrici hanno in alcuni casi catturato l'attenzione del pubblico più delle sue opere...