Dali Salvador

Spanish surrealist painter, original and eccentric, truly one of a kind. He imbued his life with the fertile imagination that he displayed in his art. The son of a notary, Dali was given the same name as a brother who died at the age of 21 months, nine months and ten days before Salvadors birth. He was given his dead brothers clothes to wear and his toys to play with and reminded that he would never replace the lost sibling. Dali came to believe that he was the reincarnation of this older brother. From the time he was a toddler Dali was scratching out drawings. He had the first exhibition of his paintings at age 14 in the municipal theater of his home town, Figueras, Spain. Another exhibit followed six months later, bringing critical praise of his talent. His behavior was not socially acceptable, however, and he often attacked other kids in school. Although his teachers found him impossible to deal with, his parents encouraged his attention-getting behavior and approved his narcissism. By the time he was in junior school he was bizarre in his dress and manner as he was in his behavior. At 16, he lost his mother who had adored and indulged him. His dad was already involved with his mothers sister, who lived with the family. They later married but Dali never accepted the situation. After he was expelled from school, his dad allowed him in 1922 to enroll in the Madrid School of Fine Art. Initially a model student, he soon regarded his contemporaries and tutors both as inferiors. His shyness and fears almost crippled him. Terrified of everything, he was afraid to cross the street by himself and was completely unable to face the challenge of public transportation. He could not buy new shoes because of his phobia about exposing his feet, and he carried talismans to ward off evil spirits. He was expelled twice from the art academy, first in 1924 when he was suspected of rousing his fellow students to revolt, and again a year later for refusing to take an exam. He never obtained his diploma. While in Madrid, Dali belonged to a group of young Spanish intellectuals and wrote essays, poems, critical analyses and stories as well as painting. He formed two genuine friendships that lasted his lifetime; the wealthy and gifted poet Federico Garcia Lorca and the future filmmaker Luis Buñuel, with whom he made two surrealistic films. Dali’s closeness with the handsome young Lorca was shadowed only by the fact that the homosexual poet wanted a more intimate relationship than the virginal and avowedly heterosexual Dali was willing to explore. (Some accounts state that they had an ill-fated and brief affair.) Dali’s early canvasses depict the landscape of the Costa Brava, particularly the streets and harbor of Cadaqués and the nearby fishing village of Port Lligat which were to become lifetime themes. In 1927-28 he produced his first dreamscape which would define his ability to transform the world of outer images to reflect his inner world of fantasy and dreams. His 1929 Paris exhibition featured surrealistic, dream-like landscapes and weird images that were gripping and notable. With a personality that was as different as his work, he claimed that he could remember his prenatal experiences and the terrible trauma of birth. He produced many of his legendary pieces between 1929 and 1939. Dalis picture appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine in 1936 when he was 32 years old. His long, thin mustache waxed into bizarre shapes became a d Read less