Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)

Salvador Dalí was born in Figueras, Spain in 1904. Already at the age of 12 he was introduced to graphic art and printmaking by his excellent teacher Juan Núñez. Studies in the fine arts laid the basis for Dalí's masterly technique and were completed with the highest grades, albeit in stormy fashion. In 1926 he was expelled from his art school in Madrid by official command from the King of Spain.

Dalí passed through the movements and schools of modern art from the Impressionists to Cubism. Through abstract expression inspired by Miró, he finally discovered his own Surrealist style. As a graphic artist Dalí experimented with completely new techniques, using explosives and the axe, throwing ink-filled eggs at his works and engraving on printing blocks with a fork.

EROTIC SURREALISM
Owing to his megalomaniac narcissism and uninhibited political views, Dalí was also expelled from the Surrealists. His "paranoid-critical method", as he named it, consisted of free and spontaneous associations of delirious phenomena. They were spurred by erotic and pre-natal memories. The images feature paranoid and sadistic experiences, subconscious fears, surprising anatomical combinations and distorted forms. Smooth surfaces and hard materials represented as soft, and their supports, create a strong sexual impression.

In 1965 Dalí became interested in illustrations of Greek mythology. In an extremely rare series of 16 prints Dalí portrays mythological characters such as Zeus, Aphrodite, Leda and Narcissus tinged with his own mental images.

FLAMBOYANCE INSPIRED BY HIS WIFE GALA
Dalí created paintings, sculpture, prints, jewellery and perfumes, in addition to design sets and costumes for ballet and theatre, illustrated books, made films and worked as an art critic. Dalí's most spectacular creation, however, was his own lifestyle. His image included long, curved whiskers, posing and dressing like a dandy, bizarre acts and performances, and unconventional statements. He was encouraged and even goaded in all this by his wife Gala, the Russian-born Elena Diakonova, who had been married to the French Surrealist poet Paul Éluard.

From 1940 to 1955 Dalí lived in the United States, where he was the subject of a great deal of interest and attention. After the death of Gala in 1982, Dalí broke down completely. Salvador Dalí died of heart failure in 1989. He bequeathed his whole property to the Spanish State.