Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (actually Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí and Domènech, marquès de Dalí de Púbol) was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres in Spanish Catalonia, and died on January 23, 1989 in the same city. He is one of the best known artists of the surreal trend in art, as well as one of the most recognizable twentieth century artists.

Salvador Dali began learning drawing at the age of 10. At the age of 14 he already exhibited his works in galleries. He began his studies in 1921 at the Royal Academy of Arts in Madrid. He was thrown out of it twice, he never finished his student exams and thought he was better educated than his professors.

In 1927, Dali met with Picasso in Paris, in the artist's studio. A year later he moved to the French capital himself. At the urging and intercession of Joan Miró, the Catalan artist became a member of the surrealist group. Soon, Dali's first painting was considered surreal, entitled "Honey is sweeter than blood." Dali quickly became a significant figure among the surrealists, but as early as 1934 he was expelled for supporting fascism and greed.

In 1929, Salvador Dali met his future wife Gala - a Russian immigrant 10 years older than the artist. She was then the wife of the poet Paul Eluard. Soon she abandoned him for a Spanish painter. Gala became Dali's companion, muse and model, she also looked after his finances, organized exhibitions in Europe and the USA.

The artist's first American exhibition took place in New York in 1933. After the outbreak of World War II, the artist settled permanently across the ocean. He took part in many exhibitions there, including in a retrospective exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Soon his paintings became fashionable among American elites.

In 1948, the painter returned to Europe with his wife. They were mainly in France and Spain. In 1958, his first historical painting was created, showing one of the Spanish legends. In the following years he created other works of this type, usually monumental in size. These paintings were characterized by excessive realism and great attention to detail. During the heyday of abstraction, these works did not gain much popularity.

At the beginning of the seventies, the artist focused primarily on creating his museum, which was opened in 1974. Teatro Museo Dalí was founded in the hometown of the Catalan painter. In addition to the works of Dali, in this institution you can see the works of Antoni Pitxot, Ernst Fuchs, and Arn Breker.

In May 1983, Dali painted his last painting work - "Swallow's Tail". Seriously ill, he died on January 23, 1989.

Fig. Salvador Dalí - photo by Carl Van Vechten (1939).