The Surreal World of Salvador Dali: From Smithsonian Magazine

Smithsonian Magazine April 2005. 01 Dec 2005 .

The author of this article, Stanley Meisler, wrote this article in advance of a new Salvador Dali exhibition that was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in April and May of this year. The author first discusses that Dali spent much of his life trying to shock the world. Dali loved controversy and a sensation. Dali endorsed many products and seemed to love money and publicity.

The author maintains that this need for controversy obscured Dali's true genius. Many critics feel that Dali reached his peak in his 20's and 30's and sold out after that. The exhibition, the artist believes, will give people the opportunity to come to their own conclusions about Salvador Dali. Was he a genius or a madman?

Salvador Dali shares his name with an older brother who died nine months before the artist Salvador Dali was born. He also has a sister Ana Maria who is four years younger than Salvador. Dali's father was authoritarian and his mother came from a family that designed and decorated art objects like boxes and fans. His mother died when he was sixteen.

Dali's works were first exhibited when he was only fourteen years old. When he was seventeen he was admitted into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, Spain. He believed his teachers were out of touch and claimed that he was infinitely more intelligent than they, and refused to take their exams, for which he was expelled.

Dali was attracted to the ideas of French surrealists who were trying to apply Sigmund Freud's theories to artwork. Joan Miro, a fellow artist introduced Dali to these French artists. Dali went to Paris to take place in filming a Spanish Film. That same year he met his future wife, Gala.

In 1933 Dali had a solo exhibition in Paris and then also in New York City. In 1936 Dali made the cover of time magazine. Dali used Freudian images in his paintings, such as staircases and keys, but he also made up his own symbols, which had sexual significance to him alone. Dali had the opportunity to paint Freud, who told others that Dali appeared to be a fanatic. Dali was delighted by the comment.

As Dali became more famous he began making outrageous statements. Dali's work was also undermined by his love of money. He wanted to accumulate millions of dollars. This love of money led to Dali designing furniture, jewelry, clothing, sets for plays, scenes from a Hitchcock film, store displays, and other things.

Dali was also known for self-indulgent stunts. In 1955 he arrived for a lecture in a limo stuffed with cauliflower. To promote a book he produced, Dali dressed in a gold robe and lay in a bed at the bookstore and signed books while attached to machines that measured his brain waves and blood pressure. A copy of the data was given to people who purchased the books. In 1965 Dali started selling his signature on blank lithograph paper for $10 each.

Dali was generous in reaching out to young artists. He was known to treat them to meals and art discussions, or allow them to watch him paint. A museum was opened in his honor in the town of Figueres. His later years were unhappy. He and Gala seemed to have marital problems, as she lived in a castle that Dali bought for her, and he was only allowed to visit by written invitation. He feared that she would leave him, which possibly lead to his depression and failing health. After Gala died Dali's depression worsened. He didn't want to eat, speak, walk, or even draw. Dali died in 1989 at the age of 84 and was buried at the museum in Figueres. I found this article to be an interesting summary of Salvador Dali's life. I decided to write an abstract on this article since we have been discussing Dali in class. I have been to the museum many times to admire his artwork, but I have never really learned about his life. I think that I may look into it further now.