Artistic biography of Salvador Dali. Biography of Salvador Dali, interesting facts and quotes from Dali's friends

). Author of books « Secret life Salvador Dali, told by himself" (1942), "The Diary of a Genius"(1952-1963), Oui: The Paranoid-Critical Revolution (1927-33) and the essay “The Tragic Myth of Angelus Millet.”

Biography

Childhood

Salvador Dalí was born in Spain on May 11, 1904 in the city of Figueres, province of Girona, into the family of a wealthy notary. He was a Catalan by nationality, perceived himself as such and insisted on this peculiarity of his. Had a sister and an older brother (October 12, 1901 - August 1, 1903), who died of meningitis. Later, at the age of 5, at his grave, Salvador was told by his parents that he was the reincarnation of his older brother.

As a child, Dali was a smart, but arrogant and uncontrollable child.

Once he even started a scandal in the shopping area for the sake of a candy, a crowd gathered around, and the police asked the owner of the shop to open it during siesta and give this sweetness to the naughty boy. He achieved his goal through whims and simulation, always striving to stand out and attract attention.

Numerous complexes and phobias (fear of grasshoppers and others [which?] ) prevented him from joining normal school life, establish ordinary bonds of friendship and sympathy with children.

But, like any person, experiencing sensory hunger, he sought emotional contact with children by any means, trying to get used to their team, if not as a comrade, then in any other role, or rather the only one he was capable of - as a shocking and disobedient child, strange, eccentric, always acting contrary to other people's opinions.

Losing at school gambling, he acted as if he had won and was triumphant. Sometimes he would start fights for no reason.

Part of the complexes that led to all this were caused by the classmates themselves: they treated the “strange” child rather intolerantly, took advantage of his fear of grasshoppers, slipped these insects down his collar, which drove Salvador to hysterics, which he later told about in his book “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself.”

Learn fine arts started in municipal art school. From 1914 to 1918 he was educated at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order in Figueres. One of his childhood friends was the future FC Barcelona footballer Josep Samitier. In 1916, with the family of Ramon Pichó, he went on vacation to the city of Cadaqués, where he became acquainted with modern art.

Youth

1921 At the age of 47, Dali’s mother dies of breast cancer. This became a tragedy for him. The same year he entered the Academy of San Fernando. The drawing he prepared for the exam seemed too small to the caretaker, which he informed his father, and he, in turn, informed his son. Young Salvador erased the entire drawing from the canvas and decided to draw a new one. But he only had 3 days left before the final assessment. However, the young man was in no hurry to get to work, which greatly worried his father, who had already suffered through his quirks over the years. In the end, young Dali announced that the drawing was ready, but it was even smaller than the previous one, and this was a blow for his father. However, the teachers, due to their extremely high skill, made an exception and accepted the young eccentric into the academy.

In 1922 he moved to the “Residence” (Spanish. Residencia de Estudiantes ) (student dormitory in Madrid for gifted young people) and begins his studies. In those years, everyone noted his panache. At this time he met Luis Buñuel, Federico García Lorca, Pedro Garfias. He reads Freud's works with enthusiasm.

Familiarity with new trends in painting develops - Dali experiments with the methods of Cubism and Dadaism. In 1926, he was expelled from the Academy for his arrogant and disdainful attitude towards teachers. In the same year he goes to Paris for the first time, where he meets Pablo Picasso. Trying to find own style, in the late 1920s creates a number of works influenced by Picasso and Joan Miró. In 1929, he participated with Buñuel in the creation of the surreal film “Un Chien Andalou”.

Then he first meets his future wife Gala (Elena Dmitrievna Dyakonova), who was then the wife of the poet Paul Eluard. Having become close to Salvador, Gala, however, continued to meet with her husband and started relationships with other poets and artists, which at that time seemed acceptable in those bohemian circles where Dali, Eluard and Gala moved. Realizing that he actually stole his friend’s wife, Salvador paints his portrait as “compensation.”

Early life

Dali's works are shown at exhibitions, he is gaining popularity. In 1929 he joined the surrealist group organized by Andre Breton. At the same time, there is a break with his father. The hostility of the artist’s family towards Gala, the associated conflicts, scandals, as well as the inscription made by Dali on one of the canvases - “Sometimes I spit with pleasure on the portrait of my mother” - led to the fact that the father cursed his son and kicked him out of the house. The provocative, shocking and seemingly terrible actions of the artist were not always worth understanding literally and seriously: he probably did not want to offend his mother and did not even imagine what this would lead to, perhaps he longed to experience a series of feelings and experiences that he stimulated in such a blasphemous, at first glance, act. But the father, upset by the long-ago death of his wife, whom he loved and whose memory he carefully preserved, could not stand his son’s antics, which became the last straw for him. In retaliation, the indignant Salvador Dali sent his sperm to his father in an envelope with an angry letter: “This is all I owe you.” Later, in the book “The Diary of a Genius,” the artist, already an elderly man, speaks well of his father, admits that he loved him very much and endured the suffering caused by his son.

In 1934, he unofficially married Gala (the official wedding took place in 1958 in the Spanish town of Girona). In the same year he visited the USA for the first time.

Break with the surrealists

At the beginning of 1989, Dali was hospitalized with a diagnosis of heart failure. Sick and infirm, Dali died on January 23, 1989.

The only intelligible phrase he uttered during the years of illness was “My friend Lorca”: the artist recalled the years of his happy, healthy youth, when he was friends with the poet Federico García Lorca.

The artist bequeathed to bury him so that people could walk on the grave, so Dali’s body is walled up in the floor in one of the rooms of the Dali Theater-Museum in the city of Figueres. He bequeathed all his works to Spain.

Creation

Theater

Salvador Dali is the author of the libretto and design of the ballet “Bacchanalia” (music by Richard Wagner, choreography by Leonid Massine, Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo).

Cinema

In 1945, in collaboration with Walt Disney, he began work on animated film Destino. Production was then delayed due to financial problems; The Walt Disney Company released the film this year.

Design

Salvador Dali is the author of the packaging design for Chupa Chups. Enrique Bernat called his caramel "Chups", and at first it had only seven flavors: strawberry, lemon, mint, orange, chocolate, coffee with cream and strawberry with cream. The popularity of “Chups” grew, the amount of caramel produced increased, and new flavors appeared. Caramel could no longer remain in its original modest wrapper; it was necessary to come up with something original so that “Chups” would be recognized by everyone. Enrique Bernat turned to his fellow countryman, the famous artist Salvador Dali, with a request to draw something memorable. The brilliant artist did not think long and in less than an hour sketched out a picture for him, which depicted the Chupa Chups daisy, which in a slightly modified form is today recognizable as the Chupa Chups logo in all corners of the planet. The difference between the new logo was its location: it is located not on the side, but on top of the candy

Sculptures

• 1969-1979 - Clot Collection, a series of 44 bronze statues created by the artist in his home in Port Ligat.

Dali. Caballo.JPG

Horse and rider stumbling

Dalí DonQuijotesentado.JPG

Seated Don Quixote

Dali. Elefantecósmico.JPG

Space elephant

Gala in the window

Dali. GalaGradiva.JPG

Dalí.Perseo.JPG

Image in cinema

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Notes

Literature

• 1974 Robert Desharnes. Salvador Dali. Ed. DuMont Buchverlag, 164 pp., ISBN 3-7701-0753-5;
• 1990 George Orwell. The privilege of spiritual shepherds. Essay. - Lenizdat,
• 1992 A. I. Rozhin Salvador Dali. Ed. Republic, 224 pp., circulation 75,000 copies, ISBN 5-250-01946-3;
• 1992 E. V. Zavadskaya Salvador Dali. Ed. Fine Arts, 64 pp., circulation 50,000 copies, ISBN 5-85200-236-4;
• 1995 Gilles Neret. Salvador Dali. 1904-1989 = Salvador Dali / Gilles Neret. - Koeln: TASCHEN, 95 pp. (On German) ISBN 3-8228-9520-2 ;
• 2001 Nicola Descharnes, Robert Descharnes. Ed. White City, 382 pp., ISBN 5-7793-0325-8;
  • 1996 (erroneous);
• 2002 Meredith Etherington-Smith. "Salvador Dali" (Translation by E. G. Handel). Ed. Medley, 560 pp., circulation 11,000 copies, ISBN 985-438-781-X, ISBN 0-679-40061-3;
• 2006 Robert Descharnes, Gilles Neret. Dali. Ed. Taschen, 224 pp., ISBN 3-8228-5008-X;
• 2008 Delassin S. Gala for Dali. Biography married couple. M., Text, 186 pp., circulation: 5000, ISBN 978-5-7516-0682-4
• 2009 Olga Morozova. Burnt alive. Scandalous biography of Salvador Dali. Ed. Funky Inc., 224 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-903912-70-4;
• 2010 Salvador Dali. Thoughts and anecdotes. Pensees et anecdotes. Ed. Text, 176 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-7516-0923-8;
• 2011 S. S. Pirozhnik. Salvador Dali. Ed. Harvest, 128 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-985-16-1274-7;
• 2011 V. G. Yaskov Salvador Dali. Ed. Eksmo, 12 pp., circulation 3000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-47135-5;
• 2012 Salvador Dali. My secret life. La Vie Secrete De Salvador. (Translation by E. G. Handel) Ed. Medley, 640 pp., circulation 5100 copies, ISBN 978-985-15-1620-5;
• 2012 Salvador Dali. Diary of a genius. Journal D'un Genie. (Translation by O. G. Sokolnik, T. A. Zhdan) Ed. Medley, 336 pp., circulation 5100 copies, ISBN 978-985-15-1619-9;
  • 2014 Salvador Dali. Diary of a genius. Journal D'un Genie. Ed. ABC, ABC-Atticus, 288 pp., circulation 5000 copies, ISBN 978-5-389-08671-5;
• 2012 Robert Descharnes, Nicolas Descharnes. Salvador Dali / Salvador Dali. Album. Ed. Edita, 384 pp., ISBN 5-7793-0325-8;
  • 2008 Ed. White City
• 2013 R. K. Balandin Salvador Dali art and outrageousness. Ed. Veche, 320 pp., circulation 5000 copies, ISBN 978-5-4444-1036-3;
• 2013 Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali. Ed. Book club "Family leisure club". Belgorod, Book Club “Family Leisure Club”. Kharkov, 900 pp., circulation 500 copies, ISBN 978-5-9910-2130-2;
• 2013 Dali near and far. Collection of articles. Rep. editor Busev M. A. M., Progress-Tradition, 416 pp., circulation 500 copies, ISBN 978-5-89826-406-2
• 2014 Salvador Dali. Hidden faces. Ostros Ocultos (Visages Caches/Hidden Faces). (Translation by L. M. Tsyvyan) Ed. Eksmo, 512 pp., circulation 7000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-70849-9;
• 2014 Katherine Ingram. The brilliant Dali. This is DaLi (Translation by T. Platonov). Ed. Eksmo, 80 pp., circulation 3150 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-70398-2;

Links

• - Magazine " Tretyakov Gallery", #4 2015 (49)

Excerpt characterizing Dali, Salvador

After his meeting in Moscow with Pierre, Prince Andrey left for St. Petersburg on business, as he told his relatives, but, in essence, in order to meet there Prince Anatoly Kuragin, whom he considered necessary to meet. Kuragin, whom he inquired about when he arrived in St. Petersburg, was no longer there. Pierre let his brother-in-law know that Prince Andrei was coming to pick him up. Anatol Kuragin immediately received an appointment from the Minister of War and left for the Moldavian Army. At the same time, in St. Petersburg, Prince Andrei met Kutuzov, his former general, always disposed towards him, and Kutuzov invited him to go with him to the Moldavian Army, where the old general was appointed commander-in-chief. Prince Andrei, having received the appointment to be at the headquarters of the main apartment, left for Turkey.
Prince Andrei considered it inconvenient to write to Kuragin and summon him. Without giving a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov, and therefore he sought a personal meeting with Kuragin, in which he intended to find a new reason for the duel. But in the Turkish army he also failed to meet Kuragin, who, soon after Prince Andrei’s arrival in Turkish army returned to Russia. In a new country and in new living conditions, life became easier for Prince Andrei. After the betrayal of his bride, which struck him the more diligently the more diligently he hid the effect it had on him from everyone, the living conditions in which he was happy were difficult for him, and even more difficult were the freedom and independence that he had so valued before. Not only did he not think those previous thoughts that first came to him while looking at the sky on the Field of Austerlitz, which he loved to develop with Pierre and which filled his solitude in Bogucharovo, and then in Switzerland and Rome; but he was even afraid to remember these thoughts, which revealed endless and bright horizons. He was now interested only in the most immediate, practical interests, unrelated to his previous ones, which he grabbed with the greater greed, the more closed from him the previous ones were. It was as if that endless receding vault of the sky that had previously stood above him suddenly turned into a low, definite, oppressive vault, in which everything was clear, but there was nothing eternal and mysterious.
Of the activities presented to him, military service was the simplest and most familiar to him. Holding the position of general on duty at Kutuzov's headquarters, he persistently and diligently went about his business, surprising Kutuzov with his willingness to work and accuracy. Not finding Kuragin in Turkey, Prince Andrei did not consider it necessary to jump after him again to Russia; but for all that, he knew that, no matter how much time passed, he could not, having met Kuragin, despite all the contempt that he had for him, despite all the proofs that he made to himself that he should not humiliate himself to the point of confrontation with him, he knew that, having met him, he could not help but call him, just as a hungry man could not help but rush to food. And this consciousness that the insult had not yet been taken out, that the anger had not been poured out, but lay in the heart, poisoned the artificial calm that Prince Andrei had arranged for himself in Turkey in the form of preoccupied, busy and somewhat ambitious and vain activities.
In 12, when news of the war with Napoleon reached Bukarest (where Kutuzov lived for two months, spending days and nights with his Wallachian), Prince Andrei asked Kutuzov to transfer to the Western Army. Kutuzov, who was already tired of Bolkonsky with his activities, which served as a reproach for his idleness, Kutuzov very willingly let him go and gave him an assignment to Barclay de Tolly.
Before going to the army, which was in the Drissa camp in May, Prince Andrei stopped at Bald Mountains, which were on his very road, located three miles from the Smolensk highway. The last three years and the life of Prince Andrei there were so many upheavals, he changed his mind, experienced so much, re-saw (he traveled both west and east), that he was strangely and unexpectedly struck when entering Bald Mountains - everything was exactly the same, down to the smallest detail - exactly the same course of life. As if he were entering an enchanted, sleeping castle, he drove into the alley and into the stone gates of the Lysogorsk house. The same sedateness, the same cleanliness, the same silence were in this house, the same furniture, the same walls, the same sounds, the same smell and the same timid faces, only somewhat older. Princess Marya was still the same timid, ugly, aging girl, in fear and eternal moral suffering, living without benefit or joy best years of your life. Bourienne was the same flirtatious girl, joyfully enjoying every minute of her life and filled with the most joyful hopes for herself, pleased with herself. She only became more confident, as it seemed to Prince Andrei. The teacher Desalles brought from Switzerland was dressed in a frock coat of Russian cut, distorting the language, spoke Russian with the servants, but he was still the same limitedly intelligent, educated, virtuous and pedantic teacher. The old prince changed physically only in that the lack of one tooth became noticeable on the side of his mouth; morally he was still the same as before, only with even greater embitterment and distrust of the reality of what was happening in the world. Only Nikolushka grew up, changed, became flushed, acquired curly dark hair and, without knowing it, laughing and having fun, raised the upper lip of his pretty mouth in the same way as the deceased little princess raised it. He alone did not obey the law of immutability in this enchanted, sleeping castle. But although in appearance everything remained the same, the internal relations of all these persons had changed since Prince Andrei had not seen them. The members of the family were divided into two camps, alien and hostile to each other, which now converged only in his presence, changing their usual way of life for him. To one belonged the old prince, m lle Bourienne and the architect, to the other - Princess Marya, Desalles, Nikolushka and all the nannies and mothers.
During his stay in Bald Mountains, everyone at home dined together, but everyone felt awkward, and Prince Andrei felt that he was a guest for whom they were making an exception, that he was embarrassing everyone with his presence. During lunch on the first day, Prince Andrei, involuntarily feeling this, was silent, and the old prince, noticing the unnaturalness of his state, also fell gloomily silent and now after lunch went to his room. When Prince Andrei came to him in the evening and, trying to stir him up, began to tell him about the campaign of the young Count Kamensky, the old prince unexpectedly began a conversation with him about Princess Marya, condemning her for her superstition, for her dislike for m lle Bourienne, who, according to According to him, there was one truly devoted to him.
The old prince said that if he was sick, it was only because of Princess Marya; that she deliberately torments and irritates him; that she spoils little Prince Nikolai with self-indulgence and stupid speeches. The old prince knew very well that he was torturing his daughter, that her life was very hard, but he also knew that he could not help but torment her and that she deserved it. “Why doesn’t Prince Andrei, who sees this, tell me anything about his sister? - thought the old prince. - What does he think, that I’m a villain or an old fool, I moved away from my daughter for no reason and brought the French woman closer to me? He doesn’t understand, and therefore we need to explain to him, we need him to listen,” thought the old prince. And he began to explain the reasons why he could not stand his daughter’s stupid character.
“If you ask me,” said Prince Andrey, without looking at his father (he condemned his father for the first time in his life), “I didn’t want to talk; but if you ask me, then I will tell you frankly my opinion about all this. If there are misunderstandings and discord between you and Masha, then I can’t blame her at all - I know how much she loves and respects you. If you ask me,” Prince Andrei continued, getting irritated, because he was always ready for irritation in lately, - then I can say one thing: if there are misunderstandings, then they are caused by an insignificant woman who should not have been her sister’s friend.
At first the old man looked at his son with fixed eyes and unnaturally revealed with a smile a new tooth deficiency, which Prince Andrei could not get used to.
-What kind of girlfriend, darling? A? I've already spoken! A?
“Father, I didn’t want to be a judge,” said Prince Andrei in a bilious and harsh tone, “but you called me, and I said and will always say that Princess Marya is not to blame, but it’s the fault... this Frenchwoman is to blame...”
“And he awarded!.. he awarded!” the old man said in a quiet voice and, as it seemed to Prince Andrei, with embarrassment, but then suddenly he jumped up and shouted: “Get out, get out!” May your spirit not be here!..

Prince Andrey wanted to leave immediately, but Princess Marya begged him to stay another day. On this day, Prince Andrei did not see his father, who did not go out and did not allow anyone to see him except M lle Bourienne and Tikhon, and asked several times whether his son had left. The next day, before leaving, Prince Andrei went to see his son's half. A healthy, curly-haired boy sat on his lap. Prince Andrei began to tell him the tale of Bluebeard, but, without finishing it, he became lost in thought. He was not thinking about this pretty boy son while he was holding him on his lap, but was thinking about himself. He searched in horror and found in himself neither remorse for having irritated his father, nor regret that he (in a quarrel for the first time in his life) was leaving him. The most important thing for him was that he was looking for and did not find that former tenderness for his son, which he hoped to arouse in himself by caressing the boy and sitting him on his lap.
“Well, tell me,” said the son. Prince Andrei, without answering him, took him down from the pillars and left the room.
As soon as Prince Andrei left his daily activities, especially as soon as he entered into the previous conditions of life in which he had been even when he was happy, the melancholy of life gripped him with the same force, and he hurried to quickly get away from these memories and find something to do quickly.
– Are you going decisively, Andre? - his sister told him.
“Thank God I can go,” said Prince Andrei, “I’m very sorry that you can’t.”
- Why are you saying this! - said Princess Marya. - Why are you saying this now, when you are going to this terrible war and he is so old! M lle Bourienne said that he asked about you... - As soon as she began to talk about this, her lips trembled and tears began to fall. Prince Andrei turned away from her and began to walk around the room.
- Oh, my God! My God! - he said. – And just think about what and who – what insignificance can be the cause of people’s misfortune! - he said with anger, which frightened Princess Marya.
She realized that, speaking about the people whom he called nonentities, he meant not only m lle Bourienne, who made him misfortune, but also the person who ruined his happiness.
“Andre, I ask one thing, I beg you,” she said, touching his elbow and looking at him with shining eyes through tears. – I understand you (Princess Marya lowered her eyes). Don't think that it was people who caused the grief. People are his instrument. “She looked a little higher than Prince Andrei’s head with that confident, familiar look with which they look at a familiar place in a portrait. - The grief was sent to them, not people. People are his tools, they are not to blame. If it seems to you that someone is to blame for you, forget it and forgive. We have no right to punish. And you will understand the happiness of forgiving.
– If I were a woman, I would do this, Marie. This is the virtue of a woman. But a man should not and cannot forget and forgive,” he said, and, although he had not thought about Kuragin until that moment, all the unresolved anger suddenly rose in his heart. “If Princess Marya is already trying to persuade me to forgive me, then it means I should have been punished a long time ago,” he thought. And, no longer answering Princess Marya, he now began to think about that joyful, angry moment when he would meet Kuragin, who (he knew) was in the army.
Princess Marya begged her brother to wait another day, saying that she knew how unhappy her father would be if Andrei left without making peace with him; but Prince Andrei replied that he would probably soon come back from the army again, that he would certainly write to his father, and that now the longer he stayed, the more this discord would be fueled.
– Adieu, Andre! Rappelez vous que les malheurs viennent de Dieu, et que les hommes ne sont jamais coupables, [Farewell, Andrey! Remember that misfortunes come from God and that people are never to blame.] - were last words which he heard from his sister when he said goodbye to her.
“This is how it should be! - thought Prince Andrei, driving out of the alley of the Lysogorsk house. “She, a pitiful innocent creature, is left to be devoured by a crazy old man.” The old man feels that he is to blame, but cannot change himself. My boy is growing up and enjoying a life in which he will be the same as everyone else, deceived or deceiving. I'm going to the army, why? - I don’t know myself, and I want to meet that person whom I despise, in order to give him a chance to kill me and laugh at me! And before there were all the same living conditions, but before they were all connected with each other, but now everything has fallen apart. Some senseless phenomena, without any connection, one after another presented themselves to Prince Andrei.

Prince Andrei arrived at the army headquarters at the end of June. The troops of the first army, the one with which the sovereign was located, were located in a fortified camp near Drissa; the troops of the second army retreated, trying to connect with the first army, from which - as they said - they were cut off by large forces of the French. Everyone was dissatisfied with the general course of military affairs in the Russian army; but no one thought about the danger of an invasion of the Russian provinces, no one imagined that the war could be transferred further than the western Polish provinces.
Prince Andrei found Barclay de Tolly, to whom he was assigned, on the banks of the Drissa. Since there was not a single large village or town in the vicinity of the camp, the entire huge number of generals and courtiers who were with the army were located in a circle of ten miles around the best houses villages on this side and on the other side of the river. Barclay de Tolly stood four miles from the sovereign. He received Bolkonsky dryly and coldly and said in his German accent that he would report him to the sovereign to determine his appointment, and in the meantime he asked him to be at his headquarters. Anatoly Kuragin, whom Prince Andrei hoped to find in the army, was not here: he was in St. Petersburg, and this news was pleasant for Bolkonsky. Prince Andrei was interested in the center of the huge war taking place, and he was glad to be free for a while from the irritation that the thought of Kuragin produced in him. During the first four days, during which he was not required anywhere, Prince Andrey traveled around the entire fortified camp and, with the help of his knowledge and conversations with knowledgeable people, tried to form a definite concept about him. But the question of whether this camp was profitable or unprofitable remained unresolved for Prince Andrei. He had already managed to derive from his military experience the conviction that in military affairs the most thoughtfully thought-out plans mean nothing (as he saw it in the Austerlitz campaign), that everything depends on how one responds to unexpected and impossible-to-foresee actions of the enemy, that everything depends on how and by whom the whole business is conducted. In order to clarify this last question, Prince Andrei, taking advantage of his position and acquaintances, tried to understand the nature of the administration of the army, the persons and parties participating in it, and derived for himself the following concept of the state of affairs.

On May 11, 1904, a boy was born into the family of Don Salvador Dali y Cusi and Dona Felipa Domenech, who was destined to become one of the greatest geniuses of the era of surrealism in the future. His name was Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali.

Dali spent his childhood in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, the most beautiful corner of the globe.

Already in early childhood, from the behavior and preferences of little Salvador, one could note his uncontrollable energy and eccentric character. Frequent whims and hysterics made Dali's father angry, but his mother, on the contrary, tried in every possible way to please her beloved son. She forgave him even the most disgusting tricks. As a result, the father became a kind of embodiment of evil, and the mother, on the contrary, became a symbol of good.

Dali's talent for painting manifested itself quite at a young age. At the age of four, he tried to draw with surprising diligence for such a small child. At the age of six, Dali was attracted by the image of Napoleon and, as if identifying himself with him, he felt the need for some kind of power. Having put on the king's fancy dress, he took great pleasure in his appearance.

Salvador Dali painted his first painting when he was 10 years old. It was a small impressionist landscape painted on a wooden board oil paints. The talent of a genius was bursting forth. Dali sat all day long in a small room specially allocated to him, drawing pictures. In Figueres, Dali took drawing lessons from Professor Joan Nunez. It can be said that under the experienced guidance of the professor, the talent of young Salvador Dali took its real forms. Already at the age of 14, it was impossible to doubt Dali’s ability to draw.

When Dali was almost 15 years old, he was expelled from the monastic school for obscene behavior. But he was able to successfully pass all the exams and enter college (as in Spain they called a school that provides a completed secondary education). He managed to graduate from the institute in 1921 with excellent grades. He then entered the Madrid Academy of Art

At the age of sixteen, Dali began to put his thoughts on paper. From that time on, painting and literature were equally parts of him. creative life. In 1919, in his homemade publication “Studio”, he published essays on Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Michelangelo and Leonardo. Participates in student unrest, for which he goes to prison for a day.

In the early 20s, Dali was delighted with the work of the Futurists, but he was still determined to create his own style of painting. At this time he made new friends and acquaintances. Among them were such outstanding and talented people, like the poet Federico García Lorca and Luis Bonuel. In Madrid, Dali was left to his own devices for the first time. The artist's extravagant appearance amazed and shocked ordinary people. This led Dali himself to indescribable delight. In 1921, Dali's mother dies.

In 1923, for violating discipline, he was suspended from the academy for a year. During this period, Dali's interest was focused on the works of the great Cubist genius Pablo Picasso. In Dali's paintings of that time one can notice the influence of Cubism (“Young Girls” (1923)).

In 1925, from November 14 to 27, the first personal exhibition of his works was held at the Dalmau Gallery. At this exhibition there were 27 paintings and 5 drawings of the aspiring great genius. The school of painting in which he studied gradually disappointed him and in 1926 Dali was expelled from the academy for his freethinking. In the same 1926, Salvador Dali went to Paris, trying to find something he liked there. Having joined the group united around Andre Breton, he began to create his first surreal works (“Honey sweeter than blood”1928; “Bright Joys” 1929)

At the beginning of 1929, the premiere of the film “Un Chien Andalou” took place, based on the script by Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. The script itself was written in six days! After the scandalous premiere of this film, another film called “The Golden Age” was conceived.

By 1929, surrealism had become a controversial and, for many, unacceptable movement in painting.

The personal life of Salvador Dali until 1929 had no highlights(unless you count his numerous hobbies for unrealistic girls, girls and women). But it was in that year 1929 that Dali fell in love with a real woman - Elena Dyakonova or Gala. At that time, Gala was the wife of the writer Paul Eluard, but her relationship with her husband by that time was already cool. It is this woman who will become the muse and inspiration of the genius Dali for the rest of her life.

In 1930, the paintings of Salvador Dali began to bring him fame (“Blurry of Time”; “The Persistence of Memory”). The constant themes of his creations were destruction, decay, death, as well as the world of human sexual experiences (the influence of the books of Sigmund Freud).

In the early 30s, Salvador Dali entered into some kind of conflict on political grounds with the surrealists. His admiration for Adolf Hitler and his monarchical inclinations ran counter to Breton's ideas. Dali broke with the surrealists after they accused him of counter-revolutionary activities.

In January 1931, the premiere of the second film, “The Golden Age,” took place in London.

By 1934, Gala had already divorced her husband, and Dali could marry her. Amazing feature this married couple was that they felt and understood each other. Gala, literally, lived life of Dali, and he, in turn, deified her, admired her.

Between 1936 and 1937, Salvador Dali painted one of his most famous paintings, “The Metamorphosis of Narcissus.” At the same time it comes out literary work entitled “Metamorphoses of Narcissus. Paranoid topic. “By the way, earlier (1935) in the work “Conquest of the Irrational” Dali formulated the theory of the paranoid-critical method.

In 1937, Dali visited Italy to familiarize himself with Renaissance painting.

After the occupation in France in 1940, Dali left for the USA (California), where he opened a new workshop. It was there that the great genius wrote, probably one of his best books, “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, written by himself. “When this book was published in 1942, it immediately attracted serious criticism from the press and puritanical supporters. But nostalgia for his homeland takes its toll and in 1948 he returns to Spain. While in Port Lligat, Dali turned to religious and fantastic themes in his creations.

In 1953, a large retrospective exhibition of Salvador Dali took place in Rome. It presents 24 paintings, 27 drawings, 102 watercolors!

Earlier in 1951, on the eve cold war, Dali develops the theory of “atomic art”, published in the same year in the “Mystical Manifesto”. Dali sets himself the goal of conveying to the viewer the idea of ​​the constancy of spiritual existence even after the disappearance of matter (The Exploding Head of Raphael. 1951).

In 1959, Dalí and Gala built their own home in Port Lligat. By that time, no one could doubt the genius of the great artist. His paintings were bought for huge sums of money by fans and lovers of luxury. Huge canvases painted by Dali in the 60s were valued at huge sums. Many millionaires considered it chic to have paintings by Salvador Dali in their collection.

At the end of the 60s, the relationship between Dali and Gala began to fade. And at Gala’s request, Dali was forced to buy her his own castle, where she spent a lot of time in the company of young people. The rest of their life together was smoldering firebrands that had once been a bright fire of passion.

In 1973, the Dali Museum was opened in Figueres. This incomparable surrealistic creation still delights visitors to this day. The museum is a retrospective of the life of the great artist

Closer to the 80s, Dali began to have health problems. Franco's death shocked and frightened Dali. Being a patriot, he could not calmly experience the changes in the fate of Spain. Doctors suspected Dali had Parkinson's disease. This disease once became fatal for his father.

Gala died on June 10, 1982. Although their relationship could not be called close, Dali took her death as a terrible blow.

By the end of 1983, his spirits seemed to have lifted somewhat. He began to sometimes walk in the garden and began to paint pictures. But this did not last long, alas. Old age took precedence over a brilliant mind. On August 30, 1984, a fire occurred in Dali’s house. The burns on the artist's body covered 18% of the skin.

By February 1985, Dali’s health had improved somewhat and he was able to give an interview to the largest Spanish newspaper Pais.

But in November 1988, Dali was admitted to the clinic with a diagnosis of heart failure.

Salvador Dali's heart stopped on January 23, 1989. His body was pained, as he requested, and for a week he lay in his museum in Figueres. Thousands of people came to say goodbye to the great genius.

Salvador Dali was buried in the center of his museum under an unmarked slab. The life of this man was truly bright and brilliant. Salvador Dali can safely be called unique the greatest genius 20th century surrealism!

Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in spanish city Figueres (Catalonia). His real name is Salvador Jacinto Dali Domench Cusi Farres. His father called him Salvador, which means "Savior" in Spanish.

The first son who appeared in the family died, and the parents wanted the second to become their consolation, the savior of the ancient family. As Dali wrote in his shocking “Diary of a Genius”: “At the age of six I wanted to become a cook, at seven - Napoleon. Since then, my ambitions have been growing steadily. And today I long to become none other than Salvador Dali.” Most of all, Dali loved himself; they say about such people - Narcissus. He talked a lot about himself and published personal diaries. He was confident in his exclusivity.

The only thing that separates me from a crazy person is that I am normal.

Dali Salvador

Dali claimed that he was a genius already in his mother's womb. He adored his mother, because she carried the Savior, that is, him, and when his mother died, he could not recover from the blow. But not much time passed, and Dali, for advertising purposes, inscribed on one of own paintings, hanging at an exhibition in Paris, the blasphemous words: “I spit on my mother.” Salvador’s father forbade his son to return home, but Dali didn’t care: painting became his family and home.

We won’t judge whether Dali is a genius or not; he was always assessed differently, but his talent was always obvious. The excellent landscape that he painted at the age of 6 has been preserved, and at the age of 14 his personal exhibition No. 1 took place at the Municipal Theater of Figueres. At the age of 17, he entered the Royal Academy of Arts (another name is the Higher School of Fine Arts).

The teachers rated his drawings quite highly. The poet Rafael Alberti recalled: “I feel great love for Salvador Dali, the young man. His talent from God was supported by his amazing ability to work. Very often, locked in his room and working frantically, he forgot to go down to the dining room. Despite his rare talent, Salvador Dali I visited the Academy of Arts every day and learned to draw there until I was exhausted." But the thought always lived in the head of the young talent: how to become famous? How to stand out from a huge pool of talent? What is an unusual way to enter the art world and be remembered? Vanity is a powerful lever for a gifted person. It leads some to heroic deeds, and forces others to show best sides character and soul, Dali decided to take a completely different path: he decided to shock!

In 1926, Dali was expelled from the Academy for insolence, then he ended up on short time to prison. Well, these scandals only benefit him! Having started his own path in painting, Dali began to fight common sense. In addition to the fact that he wrote his terrible fantasies non-stop, he behaved in a very original way. Here, for example, are some of his antics. Once in Rome, he appeared in the park of Princess Pallavicini, illuminated by torches, made of a cubic egg and made a speech in Latin.

In Madrid, Dali once gave a speech addressed to Picasso. Its goal is to invite Picasso to Spain. "Picasso is a Spaniard - and I am also a Spaniard! Picasso is a genius - and I am also a genius! Picasso is a communist - and neither am I!" The audience groaned. In New York, Dali appeared dressed in a golden space suit and inside an outlandish machine of his own invention - a transparent sphere. In Nice, Dali announced his intention to begin creating the film "The Car in the Flesh" with the brilliant actress Anna Magnani in the title role. Moreover, he claimed that in the plot the heroine falls in love with a car.

Salvador Dali was a genius of self-promotion, so his following tirade is completely clear: “Our time is the era of cretins, the era of consumption, and I would be the last idiot if I did not shake everything possible out of the cretins of this era.” ...Dali, who adored everything unconventional, everything “on the contrary,” was married to an amazing woman who was quite a match for him. Her real name is Elena Dmitrievna Dyakonova, although she went down in history under the name Gala. Gala means "celebration" in French. In fact, this was the case: for Dali, the Gala became a holiday of inspiration, the main model. They did not part for 53 years.

The marriage of Dali and Gala was rather strange; rather, it was a creative union. Dali could not live without his “half”: in everyday life he was a rather impractical, complex person, he was afraid of everything: riding in an elevator, and concluding contracts. Gala said: “In the morning, El Salvador makes mistakes, and in the afternoon I correct them, tearing up the agreements he frivolously signed.” They were an eternal pair - ice and fire.

News and publications regarding Dali Salvador

Salvador Dali(full name Salvador Domenech Felip Jacinte Dalí and Domenech, Marquis de Dalí de Pubol, cat. Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marqués de Dalí de Púbol, Spanish. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marqués de Dalí y de Púbol; May 11, 1904, Figueres - January 23, 1989, Figueres) - Spanish painter, graphic artist, sculptor, director, writer. One of the most famous representatives surrealism.

Worked on the films: “Un Chien Andalou,” “The Golden Age” (directed by Luis Buñuel), “Spellbound” (directed by Alfred Hitchcock). Author of the books “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself” (1942), “The Diary of a Genius” (1952-1963), Oui: The Paranoid-Critical Revolution(1927-33) and the essay “The Tragic Myth of Angelus Millet.”

Childhood

Salvador Dali was born in Spain on May 11, 1904 in the city of Figueres, province of Girona, into the family of a wealthy notary. He was a Catalan by nationality, perceived himself as such and insisted on this peculiarity of his. He had a sister, Anna Maria Dali (Spanish. Anna Maria Dalí, 6 January 1908 – 16 May 1989), and an older brother (12 October 1901 – 1 August 1903), who died of meningitis. Later, at the age of 5, at his grave, Salvador was told by his parents that he was the reincarnation of his older brother.

As a child, Dali was a smart, but arrogant and uncontrollable child. One day he started a scandal in a shopping area for the sake of candy, a crowd gathered around, and the police asked the owner of the shop to open it during siesta and give the boy some sweets. He achieved his goal through whims and simulation, always striving to stand out and attract attention.

Numerous complexes and phobias, for example, fear of grasshoppers, prevented him from joining regular school life and forming ordinary connections of friendship and sympathy with children. But, like any person, experiencing sensory hunger, he sought emotional contact with children by any means, trying to get used to their team, if not as a comrade, then in any other role, or rather the only one he was capable of - as a shocking and disobedient child, strange, eccentric, always acting contrary to other people's opinions. When he lost in school gambling games, he acted as if he had won and celebrated. Sometimes he would start fights for no reason.

Classmates treated the “strange” child rather intolerantly, took advantage of his fear of grasshoppers, slipped these insects down his collar, which drove Salvador to hysterics, which he later told about in his book “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, Told by Himself.”

Dali began studying fine arts at a municipal art school. From 1914 to 1918 he was educated at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order in Figueres. One of his childhood friends was the future FC Barcelona footballer Josep Samitier. In 1916, with the family of Ramon Pichó, he went on vacation to the city of Cadaqués, where he became acquainted with modern art.

Youth

In 1921, at the age of 47, Dali’s mother died of breast cancer. For Dali this was a tragedy. That same year he entered the Academy of San Fernando. The drawing he prepared for the exam seemed too small to the caretaker, which he informed his father, and he, in turn, informed his son. Young Salvador erased the entire drawing from the canvas and decided to draw a new one. But he only had 3 days left before the final assessment. However, the young man was in no hurry to get to work, which greatly worried his father, who had already suffered through his quirks over the years. In the end, young Dali announced that the drawing was ready, but it was even smaller than the previous one, and this was a blow for his father. However, the teachers, due to their extremely high skill, made an exception and accepted the young eccentric into the academy.

In 1922, Dali moved to the “Residence” (Spanish. Residencia de Estudiantes), a student residence in Madrid for gifted young people, and begins his studies. At this time, Dali met Luis Buñuel, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Pedro Garfias. He reads Freud's works with enthusiasm.

After becoming acquainted with new trends in painting, Dali experiments with the methods of Cubism and Dadaism. In 1926, he was expelled from the Academy for his arrogant and disdainful attitude towards teachers. In the same year, he goes to Paris for the first time, where he meets Pablo Picasso. Trying to find his own style, in the late 1920s he created a number of works influenced by Picasso and Joan Miró. In 1929, he participated with Buñuel in the creation of the surreal film Un Chien Andalou.

At the same time, he first meets his future wife Gala (Elena Dmitrievna Dyakonova), who was then the wife of the poet Paul Eluard. Having become close to Salvador, Gala, however, continued to meet with her husband and started relationships with other poets and artists, which at that time seemed acceptable in those bohemian circles where Dali, Eluard and Gala moved. Realizing that he actually stole his friend’s wife, Salvador paints his portrait as “compensation.”

Early life

Dali's works are shown at exhibitions, he is gaining popularity. In 1929 he joined the group of surrealists organized by Andre Breton. At the same time, there is a break with his father. The hostility of the artist’s family towards Gala, the associated conflicts, scandals, as well as the inscription made by Dali on one of the canvases - “Sometimes I spit with pleasure on the portrait of my mother” - led to the fact that the father cursed his son and kicked him out of the house. The provocative, shocking and terrible actions of the artist were not always worth understanding literally and seriously: he probably did not want to offend his mother and did not even imagine what this would lead to, perhaps he longed to experience a series of feelings and experiences that he stimulated in himself with such blasphemous by action. But the father, upset by the long-ago death of his wife, whom he loved and whose memory he carefully preserved, could not stand his son’s antics, which became the last straw for him. In retaliation, the indignant Salvador Dali sent his sperm to his father in an envelope with an angry letter: “This is all I owe you.” Later, in the book “The Diary of a Genius,” the artist, already an elderly man, speaks well of his father, admits that he loved him very much and endured the suffering caused by his son.

In 1934, he unofficially married Gala. In the same year he visited the USA for the first time.

Break with the surrealists

After Caudillo Franco came to power in 1936, Dalí quarreled with the surrealists on the left and was expelled from the group. In response to Dali: “Surrealism is me.” Salvador was practically apolitical, and even his monarchist views were not taken seriously, as well as his constantly advertised sexual passion for Hitler.

In 1933, Dali painted The Riddle of William Tell, where he depicts the Swiss folk hero in the image of Lenin with a huge buttock. Dali reinterpreted the Swiss myth according to Freud: Tell became a cruel father who wants to kill his child. Personal memories of Dali, who broke with his father, were layered. Lenin was perceived by communist-minded surrealists as a spiritual, ideological father. The painting depicts dissatisfaction with an overbearing parent, a step towards the formation of a mature personality. But the surrealists took the drawing literally, as a caricature of Lenin, and some of them even tried to destroy the canvas.

The evolution of creativity. Departure from surrealism

In 1937, the artist visited Italy and was delighted with the works of the Renaissance. In his own works the correctness of human proportions and other academic features begin to dominate. Despite the departure from surrealism, his paintings are still filled with surrealist fantasies. Later, Dali credited himself with saving art from modernist degradation, with which he associated his own name, since “ Salvador" translated from Spanish means "Savior".

In 1939, Andre Breton, mocking Dali and the commercial component of his work, came up with his anagram nickname “ Avida Dollars", which in Latin is not precise, but recognizably means "greedy for dollars." Breton's joke instantly gained enormous popularity, but did not harm Dali's success, which far exceeded Breton's commercial success.

Life in the USA

With the outbreak of World War II, Dali and Gala left for the USA, where they lived from 1940 to 1948. In 1942 he published a fictionalized autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. His literary experiments, like works of art, as a rule, turn out to be commercially successful. He collaborates with Walt Disney. He invites Dali to test his talent in cinema, but the project of the surreal cartoon Destino proposed by Salvador was considered commercially unfeasible, and work on it was stopped. Dali worked with director Alfred Hitchcock and created the set for the dream scene from the film Spellbound. However, the scene was cut into the film due to commercial reasons.

Mature and older years

Salvador Dali with his ocelot named Babou in 1965

After returning to Spain, Dali lived mainly in Catalonia. In 1958, he officially married Gala in the Spanish city of Girona. In 1965 he came to Paris and conquered it with his works, exhibitions and shocking actions. Removes short films, takes surreal photographs. In his films, he mainly uses reverse viewing effects, but skillfully selected subjects (flowing water, a ball bouncing down the steps), interesting comments, a mysterious atmosphere created acting artist, makes films unusual examples of art house. Dali appears in commercials, and even in such commercial activities he does not miss the opportunity for self-expression. TV viewers will long remember a chocolate advertisement in which the artist takes a bite of a piece of a bar, after which his mustache twirls in euphoric delight and he exclaims that he has gone crazy from this chocolate.

Salvador Dali in 1972

His relationship with Gala is quite complicated. On the one hand, from the very beginning of their relationship, she promoted him, found buyers for his paintings, and convinced him to paint works that were more understandable to the mass audience at the turn of the 20s and 30s. When there was no order for paintings, Gala forced her husband to develop product brands and costumes. Her strong, decisive nature was very necessary for the weak-willed artist. Gala was putting things in order in his studio, patiently putting away canvases, paints, and souvenirs that Dali had scattered senselessly while looking for the right thing. On the other hand, she constantly had relationships on the side, in her later years the spouses often quarreled, Dali’s love was rather a wild passion, and Gala’s love was not devoid of calculation, with which she “married a genius.” In 1968, Dali bought Pubol Castle for Gala, in which she lived separately from her husband, and which he himself could visit only with the written permission of his wife. In 1981, Dali developed Parkinson's disease. Gala dies in 1982.

Recent years

After the death of his wife, Dali worries deep depression. His paintings themselves are simplified, and in them for a long time The motif of grief predominates, for example, variations on the Pietà theme. Parkinson's disease prevents Dali from painting. His latest works (“Cockfights”) are simple squiggles in which the bodies of the characters are guessed.

It was difficult to care for a sick and distraught old man; he threw whatever came to hand at the nurses, screamed, and bit.

After Gala's death, Salvador moved to Pubol, but in 1984 there was a fire in the castle. The paralyzed old man rang the bell unsuccessfully, trying to call for help. In the end, he overcame his weakness, fell out of bed and crawled towards the exit, but lost consciousness at the door. Dali received severe burns but survived. Before this incident, Salvador may have planned to be buried next to Gala, and even prepared a place in the crypt in the castle. However, after the fire, he left the castle and moved to the theater-museum, where he remained until the end of his days.

In early January 1989, Dali was hospitalized with a diagnosis of heart failure. The only intelligible phrase he uttered during the years of illness was “My friend Lorca.”

Salvador Dali died on January 23, 1989, at the age of 85. The artist bequeathed to bury him so that people could walk on the grave, so Dali’s body is walled up in the floor in one of the rooms of the Dali Theater-Museum in the city of Figueres. He bequeathed all his works to Spain.

In 2007, Spaniard Maria Pilar Abel Martinez announced that she was the illegitimate daughter of Salvador Dali. The woman claimed that many years ago Dali visited his friend’s house in the town of Cadaques, where her mother worked as a maid. A love affair arose between Dali and her mother, as a result of which Pilar was born in 1956. Allegedly, the girl knew from childhood that she was Dali’s daughter, but did not want to upset the feelings of her stepfather. At Pilar's request, a DNA test was carried out using hair and skin cells from death mask Dali. The results of the examination indicated the absence of family ties between Dali and Maria Pilar Abel Martinez. However, Pilar demanded that Dali's body be exhumed for a re-examination.

In June 2017, a court in Madrid decided to exhume the remains of Salvador Dali to take samples for the purpose of conducting a genetic examination to establish the possible paternity of a resident of Girona. On July 20, the coffin containing the remains of Salvador Dali was opened and exhumation was carried out. 300 people watched the opening of the coffin. If paternity is recognized, Dali’s daughter would be able to obtain rights to his surname and part of the inheritance. However, the DNA test clearly refuted the assumptions about the relationship of these people.

Creation

Theater

Cinema

In 1945, in collaboration with Walt Disney, he began work on an animated film Destino. Production was then delayed due to financial problems; The Walt Disney Company released the film in 2003.

Design

Salvador Dali is the author of the packaging design for Chupa Chups. Enrique Bernat called his caramel "Chups", and at first it had only seven flavors: strawberry, lemon, mint, orange, chocolate, coffee with cream and strawberry with cream. The popularity of “Chups” grew, the amount of caramel produced increased, and new flavors appeared. Caramel could no longer remain in its original modest wrapper; it was necessary to come up with something original so that “Chups” would be recognized by everyone. Enrique Bernat turned to Salvador Dali with a request to draw something memorable. The brilliant artist did not think long and in less than an hour sketched out a picture for him, which depicted the Chupa Chups daisy, which in a slightly modified form is today recognizable as the Chupa Chups logo in all corners of the planet. What made the new logo different was its location: it is located not on the side, but on top of the candy.

Female figure (Baku Museum of Modern Art)

Horse and rider stumbling

Space elephant

In prison

Since 1965, in the main dining room of the prison complex on Rikers Island (USA), a drawing by Dali, which he wrote as an apology to prisoners for not being able to attend their lecture on art, has hung in a prominent place. In 1981, the drawing was hung in the hall “for safekeeping,” and in March 2003 it was replaced with a fake, and the original was stolen. Four employees were charged in this case, three of them pleaded guilty, the fourth was acquitted, but the original was not found.

On May 11, 1904 at 8:45 a.m. in Spain, in Catalonia (northeast Spain), Figueres, little Dali was born. Full name Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali y Domenech. His parents are Don Salvador Dali y Cusi and Dona Felipa Domenech. Salvador means "Savior" in Spanish. They named Salvador after his deceased brother. He died of meningitis a year before Dali was born in 1903. Dali had the same younger sister Anna Maria, who in the future will be the image of many of his paintings. Little Dali's parents raised him differently. Since since childhood he had been distinguished by his impulsive and eccentric character, his father was literally infuriated by his antics. Mom, on the contrary, allowed him absolutely everything.

I'm pi He got into bed almost until he was eight years old - just for his own pleasure. In the house I reigned and commanded. Nothing was impossible for me. My father and mother didn’t pray for me (The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, as told by himself)

Dali's desire for creativity manifested itself from early childhood. At the age of 4, he began to draw with a zeal unprecedented for a child. At the age of six, Dali was attracted to the image of Napoleon and, identifying himself with him, he felt the need for power. Having put on the king's fancy dress, he took great pleasure in his appearance. Well, he painted his first picture when he was 10 years old. It was a small landscape in an impressionist style, painted with oil paints on a wooden board. Then Salvador began taking drawing lessons from Professor Joao Nunez. Thus, at the age of 14 one could confidently see the talent of Salvador Dali incarnate.

When he was almost 15 years old, Dali was expelled from the monastic school for bad behavior. But this was not a failure for him; he passed his exams with flying colors and entered college. In Spain, schools of secondary education were called institutes. And in 1921 he graduated from the institute with excellent grades.
Afterwards he entered the Madrid Academy of Art. When Dali was 16 years old, he began to become interested in painting and literature, and began to write. He publishes his essays in the self-made publication “Studio”. And in general he leads a fairly active life. Managed to serve a day in prison for participating in student unrest.

Salvador Dali dreamed of creating his own style in painting. In the early 20s he admired the work of the futurists. At the same time, he made acquaintances with famous poets of that time (Garcia Lorca, Luis Bonuel). The relationship between Dali and Lorca was very close. In 1926, Lorca's poem "Ode to Salvador Dalí" was published, and in 1927, Dalí designed the sets and costumes for the production of Lorca's "Mariana Pineda".
In 1921, Dali's mother dies. The father later marries another woman. For Dali, this looks like a betrayal. Later in his works he portrays the image of a father who wants to destroy his son. This event left its mark on the artist’s work.

In 1923, Dali became very interested in the works of Pablo Picasso. At the same time, problems began at the academy. He was suspended for a year for disciplinary violations.

In 1925, Dali held his first personal exhibition at the Dalmau Gallery. He presented 27 paintings and 5 drawings.

In 1926, Dali completely stopped making efforts to study, because... disappointed in school. And they kicked him out after the incident. He did not agree with the teachers’ decision regarding one of the painting teachers, then stood up and left the hall. A brawl immediately broke out in the hall. Of course, Dali was considered guilty, although he didn’t even know about what happened, and he ends up in prison, although not for long. But he soon returned to the academy. Ultimately, his behavior led to his expulsion from the academy for his refusal to take an oral examination. As soon as he learns that his last question is a question about Raphael, Dali declared: “... I do not know less than three professors combined, and I refuse to answer them because I am better informed on this matter.”

In 1927, Dali traveled to Italy to become familiar with Renaissance painting. While he was not yet part of the surrealist group led by Andre Breton and Max Ernst, he later joined them in 1929. Breton deeply studied the works of Freud. He said that by discovering unexpressed thoughts and desires hidden in the subconscious, surrealism could create a new way of life and a way of perceiving it.

In 1928, he left for Paris to find himself.

At the beginning of 1929, Dali tried himself as a director. The first film based on his script by Luis Bonuel was released. The film was called "Un Chien Andalou". Surprisingly, the film script was written in 6 days! The premiere was a sensation, as the film itself was very extravagant. Considered a classic of surrealism. Consisted of a set of frames and scenes. It was a small short film, designed to touch the heart of the bourgeoisie and ridicule the principles of the avant-garde.

IN personal life Dali did not have anything bright and significant until 1929. Of course, he walked around, had numerous relationships with girls, but they never went far. And just in 1929, Dali truly fell in love. HER name was Elena Dyakonova or Gala. Russian by origin, she was 10 years older than him. She was married to the writer Paul Eluard, but their relationship was already falling apart. Her fleeting movements, gestures, her expressiveness are like the second New Symphony: they reveal the architectonic contours of a perfect soul, crystallizing in the grace of the body itself, in the aroma of the skin, in the sparkling sea foam of her life. Expressing an exquisite breath of feelings, plasticity and expressiveness materialize in impeccable architecture made of flesh and blood . (The Secret Life of Salvador Dali)

They met when Dali returned to Cadaques to work on an exhibition of his paintings. Among the guests of the exhibition was Paul Eluard with his then-wife Gala. Gala became Dali's inspiration in many of his works. He painted all kinds of portraits of her, as well as various images based on their relationship and passion." First kiss - Dali wrote later, - when our teeth collided and our tongues intertwined, was only the beginning of that hunger that made us bite and gnaw each other to the very essence of our being." Such images often appeared in Dali's subsequent works: chops on a human body, fried eggs, cannibalism - all these images evoke the frantic sexual liberation of a young man.

Dali wrote in an absolutely unique style. It seems that he drew images known to everyone: animals, objects. But he arranged them and connected them in a completely unimaginable way. Could connect the torso of a woman with a rhinoceros, for example, or a melted watch. Dali himself would call this the “paranoid-critical method.”

1929 Dali had his first personal exhibition in Paris at the Geman Gallery, after which he began his path to the pinnacle of fame.

In 1930, Dali's paintings began to bring him fame. His work was influenced by the works of Freud. In his paintings he reflected human sexual experiences, as well as destruction and death. His masterpieces such as “The Persistence of Memory” were created. Dali also creates numerous models from various objects.

In 1932, the second film based on Dali’s script, “The Golden Age,” premiered in London.

Gala divorces her husband in 1934 and marries Dali. This woman was Dali’s muse and deity throughout his life.

Between 1936 and 1937, Dali worked on one of his most famous paintings, “Metamorphoses of Narcissus,” and a book of the same name immediately appeared.
In 1939, Dali had a serious quarrel with his father. The father was dissatisfied with his son’s relationship with Gala and forbade Dali to appear in the house.

After the occupation in 1940, Dalí moved from France to the USA to California. There he opens his workshop. She writes her own there too famous book"The Secret Life of Salvador Dali." After his marriage to Gala, Dali left the surrealist group because... His and the group's views begin to diverge. “I don’t care at all about the gossip that Andre Breton may spread about me, he simply doesn’t want to forgive me for the fact that I remain the last and only surrealist, but it is still necessary that one fine day the whole world will read these lines , found out how everything really happened." ("The Diary of a Genius").

In 1948, Dali returned to his homeland. Begins to get involved in religious and fantastic themes.

In 1953, a large-scale exhibition took place in Rome. He exhibits 24 paintings, 27 drawings, 102 watercolors.

In 1956, Dali began a period when the inspiration for his second work was the idea of ​​the Angel. For him, God is an elusive concept that cannot be specified in any way. God for him is not a cosmic concept either, because this would impose certain restrictions on him. Dali sees God as a collection of contradictory thoughts that cannot be reduced to any structured idea. But Dali really believed in the existence of angels. He spoke about this this way: “Whatever dreams fall to my lot, they are capable of giving me pleasure only if they have complete authenticity. Therefore, if I already experience such pleasure when angelic images approach, then I have every reason believe that angels really exist."

Meanwhile, in 1959, since his father no longer wanted to let Dali in, he and Gala settled down to live in Port Lligat. Dali's paintings were already extremely popular, sold for a lot of money, and he himself was famous. He often communicates with William Tell. Under the influence, he creates such works as “The Riddle of William Tell” and “William Tell”.

Basically, Dali worked on several topics: the paranoid-critical method, the Freudian-sexual theme, the theory of modern physics and sometimes religious motives.

In the 60s, the relationship between Gala and Dali began to crack. Gala asked to buy another house in order to move out. After this, their relationship was already just the remnants of a past bright life, but the image of Gala never left Dali and continued to be an inspiration.
In 1973, the “Dali Museum” opened in Figueras, incredible in its content. Until now, he amazes viewers with his surreal appearance.
In 1980, Dali began to have health problems. The death of Franco, head of state of Spain, shocked and frightened Dalí. Doctors suspect he has Parkinson's disease. Dali's father died from this disease.

In 1982, Gala died on June 10. For Dali, this was a terrible blow. He did not participate in the funeral. They say that Dali entered the crypt only a few hours later. “Look, I’m not crying,” was all he said. The death of Gala for Dali was a huge blow in his life. What the artist lost with Gala’s departure was known only to him. He walked alone through the rooms of their house, saying something about happiness and the beauty of Gala. He stopped drawing and sat for hours in the dining room, where all the shutters were closed.
The last work, “Swallowtail,” was completed in 1983.

In 1983, Dali’s health seemed to improve, and he began to go out for walks. But these changes were short-lived.

On August 30, 1984, there was a fire in Dali’s house. The burns on his body covered 18% of the skin surface.
By February 1985, Dali’s health was improving again and he even gave an interview to the newspaper.
But in November 1988, Dali was admitted to the hospital. The diagnosis is heart failure. On January 23, 1989, Salvador Dali passed away. He was 84 years old.

At his request, the body was embalmed and was kept in his museum for a week. Dali was buried in the very center of his own museum under a simple slab without inscriptions. The life of Salvador Dali has always been bright and eventful; throughout his life he was distinguished by his extraordinary and extravagant behavior. He changed unusual suits, the style of his mustache, and constantly praised his talent in the books he wrote ("The Diary of a Genius", "Dali by Dali", "The Golden Book of Dali", "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali"). There was such a case when in 1936 he lectured at the London Group Rooms. It was held as part of the International Surrealist Exhibition. Dali appeared in a deep-sea diver costume.