Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali was born on May, 11th 1904 in Figueras, Catalonia, Spain. He found interest in art at a young age. He studied at the academy in Madrid. At the age of sixteen Dali went to Paris and collaborate with Picasso, Magritte, and Miro leading to his first surrealist phase. It has been said that young Dali was a precocious and intelligent child, prone to fits of anger against his parents and schoolmates. 1923 Dali was suspended from the academy for criticizing his teachers and starting a riot with the students over the academy's choice of a professorship, he was also arrested that same year for supporting the separatist movement.
Dali was an avid reader of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. Dali’s major contribution to the surrealist movement was called ‘’Paranoiac- Critical Method,’’ a mental exercise of accessing the subconscious to enhance artistic creativity. In 1929 Dali expanded his artistic explorations into the world of film-making when he collaborated with Luis Bunuel. Dali’s paintings were used in a dream sequence, and aided the plot by giving clues to solving the secret to character John Ballantine's psychological problems. In August, 1929, Dali met Elena Dmitrievna Diakonova also known as Gala, she became his wife. As war approached in Europe, Dali clashed with members of the Surrealist movement. In a "trial" held in 1934, he was expelled from the group. During the World War II, Dali and Gala moved to the United States until 1948 when they moved back to his beloved Catalonia. From 1960 to 1974, Salvador Dali dedicated much of his time to creating the Dali Teatro Museo (Theater-Museum) in Figueres, Spain. In 1980, Dali was forced to retire from painting due to a motor disorder that caused permanent trembling and weakness in his hands. November 1988, Salvador Dali entered the hospital with a failing heart. After a brief convalescence, he returned to the Teatro Museo. On January 23, 1989, he died of heart failure at the age of 84. He is buried in the theater-museum's crypt, bringing his life in the world of art full circle.
Chapter 22
By: Marcia Bancharan
I found your blog very interesting even though it is a little long and there is not much of an opinion, it is mostly facts. I love the pictures you have posted and the background of the blog as well. Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists since I was little. I have been to the museum in St. Pete, FL twice already and I am going again for the extra credit in this class. I find his paintings very fascinating because they are different from paintings other artists did. His work is very abstract and sometimes I wonder where he got the ideas to draw some of the things, such as the melting clocks. I don’t know if you know this, but in most of his paintings or probably every painting, if you look close you can find a figure of a women hiding somewhere. This woman is Gala, his wife.
ReplyDeleteNevena Ronell (team 2)
Salvador Dali was an amazing artist (in my opinion.) His pieces are very abstract, and I can’t wait until I go to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg. It isn’t surprising that someone with his artistic creativity, stood out at such a young age. After reading your post it gave me some new insight on Dali’s personality and made me even more anxious on seeing some of his works of arts. I am a big fan of Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytical theories and I can see now why there is probably such a complexity of creativity in Dali’s paintings. I definitely didn’t know that he made any films and I really liked the two images you placed in your blog (one of which looked like a self-portrait of himself.) Other than that, you didn’t really give too much of your own opinion when it came to Dali. How did you feel about his art? What is your view on his influence of that era of art?
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