Why I love Salvador Dali.
This photograph is enough actually to answer the question.
I love Dali because he s crazy, He is the greatest exhibitionist of all time. The Revolutionary surrealist is an iconic figure of the art world and known for his wiry thin distinctive mustache turned up and the way he carried himself.
He was shy & lonely as a child. His father was openly abusive. His flamboyance was a result of him fighting the insecurity that he felt and the timidness inside. He had a brother that passed away 9 months before he was born and his mother told him he was the same soul. He believed he was a reincarnation of his brother. His mother passed away when he was 16. This greatly effected him. His Childhood memories are of a village called Cadaques, in Spain the sea and landscapes with eroded that had holes in them and things he discovered amongst the rocks all find their way in his work. He painted stranded fish, keys, rusty nails and such objects in a dream-like setting and unreal made-up creatures. Elephants with legs like mosquitoes and grasshoppers coming of a mouth, sea urchins and wall clocks melting on tree branches. The objects often floating, fading away. All images of his Unconscious mind. he painted double images often depicting metamorphosis. He was a painter but also did a lot of Theatre set design, Fashion & Architecture. His mother was from Barcelona and he liked what he called the strange soft buildings of the place.
He lived an eclectic lifestyle. His imagery is a chronicle of his erotic desires and tensions
His Insanity and Irrational behavior often landed him in trouble. but he was unapologetic.
He gave up art school at age 22 because none of the teachers were good enough to judge him.
He gave up art school at age 22 because none of the teachers were good enough to judge him.
The presented an authentic version of himself with fanatic intensity.
The temptation of St. Anthony
The burning Giraffe
He would go to restaurants and pay with a cheque that he had drawn on, he knew nobody would cash in a cheque with his original art on it. He created his own Museum in Spain.
He said things like "I am very intelligent- I never tell the truth. , " Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvadore Dali " " & "If you play a genius you become one". An abandoned wash house was his first studio. He lay in a tub and drew. He said his humor was born there. He often put himself in a trance-like state before painting.
He called it the paranoic critical method and his work hand drawn photographs.
He said things like "I am very intelligent- I never tell the truth. , " Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvadore Dali " " & "If you play a genius you become one". An abandoned wash house was his first studio. He lay in a tub and drew. He said his humor was born there. He often put himself in a trance-like state before painting.
He called it the paranoic critical method and his work hand drawn photographs.
His Russian wife Gala was his muse and a great influence on him.
Gala of Spheres
Dali s fame grew, Contemporary artists and the advertising agency have extensively referenced his work. He continues to be a subject of great interest to all artists. Dali popularised surrealism, a means of liberating imagination and it affected culture & literature.
The Persistence of Memory one of his most popular works.
