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Meesterlijk Modern #4
Salvador Dali: 1904-1989
A genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head Picasso called Dalí "an outboard motor that’s always running." Dalí thought himself a genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head.
Painter, sculptor, writer and film maker, Salvador Dalí (1904 - 1989) was one of the century’s greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics - and was rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the first to apply the insights of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis to the art of painting. Dalí brought extraordinary sensitivity, imagination and concern for precision to bear upon submerged levels of consciousness.
This lively biography presents the infamous Surrealist Dalí in full colour and in his own words. His provocative ideas are all here, from the soft watches to the notorious burning giraffe. And the fantastic phenomenon that was Salvador Dalí is grasped entire and placed in his various contexts. About the
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series
Painter, sculptor, writer and film maker, Salvador Dalí (1904 - 1989) was one of the century’s greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics - and was rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the first to apply the insights of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis to the art of painting. Dalí brought extraordinary sensitivity, imagination and concern for precision to bear upon submerged levels of consciousness.
This lively biography presents the infamous Surrealist Dalí in full colour and in his own words. His provocative ideas are all here, from the soft watches to the notorious burning giraffe. And the fantastic phenomenon that was Salvador Dalí is grasped entire and placed in his various contexts. About the
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Gilles Néret
120 books44 followersGilles Néret (1933 - August 3, 2005) was a French art critic and historian, journalist and curator. He wrote extensively on the history of erotica.
He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L’Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Since 1992, Néret was an editor for Taschen, for which he has written catalogues raisonnés of the works of Klimt and others, as well as the author of Erotica Universalis.
He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L’Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Since 1992, Néret was an editor for Taschen, for which he has written catalogues raisonnés of the works of Klimt and others, as well as the author of Erotica Universalis.
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December 6, 2020
Salvador Dali was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, on 11 May 1904. Dali's father was strict in the education of his children, unlike the mother. Dali had a brother named Salvador who was born nine months before him and died of gastroenteritis. When he was five, Dalí was taken to his brother's grave and was told that he was his brother's reincarnation.
Early age
At an early age, Salvador Dali's parents encouraged him to produce highly sophisticated drawings and were sent to drawing school in Figueres, Spain, in 1916.
In February 1921, Dalí's mother died of breast cancer. Dalí was 16 years old; he later said his mother's death was the greatest blow he had experienced in his life. After her death, Dalí's father married his deceased wife's sister. Dalí did not resent this marriage because he had a great love and respect for his aunt.
The development of his own style
In 1922, Dalí moved to Madrid and studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando where he already drew attention as an eccentric and dandy. He was influenced by several different artistic styles, including Metaphysics and Cubism. Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926, shortly before his final exams when he was accused of starting an unrest.
Later, Dali visited Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso, whom he revered. Picasso had already heard favourable reports about Dalí from Joan Miró, a fellow Catalan who introduced him to many Surrealist friends. As he developed his own style over the next few years, Dalí did several works heavily influenced by Picasso and Miró.
Marriage to Gala
In August 1929, Dalí met his lifelong and primary muse, inspiration, and future wife Gala. She was a Russian immigrant ten years his senior. They married in 1934. In addition to inspiring many artworks throughout her life, Gala would act as Dalí's business manager.
Dali's work
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.
Arab lineage
Dalí attributed his "love of everything gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes" to an "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors.
Eccentric manner
Dalí was highly imaginative, and also enjoyed indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention than his artwork, to the dismay of those who held his work in high esteem, and to the irritation of his critics.
Death
In 1980 at age 76, Dalí's health took a catastrophic turn. His right hand trembled terribly, with Parkinson-like symptoms. His near-senile wife allegedly had been dosing him with a dangerous cocktail of unprescribed medicine that damaged his nervous system, thus causing an untimely end to his artistic capacity.
His wife Gala died on 10 June 1982, at the age of 87. After Gala's death, Dalí lost much of his will to live. On the morning of 23 January 1989, while his favourite record of Tristan and Isolde played, Dalí died of heart failure at Figueres at the age of 84.
Source: https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_p...
Early age
At an early age, Salvador Dali's parents encouraged him to produce highly sophisticated drawings and were sent to drawing school in Figueres, Spain, in 1916.
In February 1921, Dalí's mother died of breast cancer. Dalí was 16 years old; he later said his mother's death was the greatest blow he had experienced in his life. After her death, Dalí's father married his deceased wife's sister. Dalí did not resent this marriage because he had a great love and respect for his aunt.
The development of his own style
In 1922, Dalí moved to Madrid and studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando where he already drew attention as an eccentric and dandy. He was influenced by several different artistic styles, including Metaphysics and Cubism. Dalí was expelled from the Academy in 1926, shortly before his final exams when he was accused of starting an unrest.
Later, Dali visited Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso, whom he revered. Picasso had already heard favourable reports about Dalí from Joan Miró, a fellow Catalan who introduced him to many Surrealist friends. As he developed his own style over the next few years, Dalí did several works heavily influenced by Picasso and Miró.
Marriage to Gala
In August 1929, Dalí met his lifelong and primary muse, inspiration, and future wife Gala. She was a Russian immigrant ten years his senior. They married in 1934. In addition to inspiring many artworks throughout her life, Gala would act as Dalí's business manager.
Dali's work
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.
Arab lineage
Dalí attributed his "love of everything gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes" to an "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors.
Eccentric manner
Dalí was highly imaginative, and also enjoyed indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention than his artwork, to the dismay of those who held his work in high esteem, and to the irritation of his critics.
Death
In 1980 at age 76, Dalí's health took a catastrophic turn. His right hand trembled terribly, with Parkinson-like symptoms. His near-senile wife allegedly had been dosing him with a dangerous cocktail of unprescribed medicine that damaged his nervous system, thus causing an untimely end to his artistic capacity.
His wife Gala died on 10 June 1982, at the age of 87. After Gala's death, Dalí lost much of his will to live. On the morning of 23 January 1989, while his favourite record of Tristan and Isolde played, Dalí died of heart failure at Figueres at the age of 84.
Source: https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_p...
May 30, 2020
The book has many great paintings, not in great print but it is fine as the book is inexpensive to compare with others (10€) .
But the text! and the structure of the book i really didnt like. Overall the structure it is very inconsistent. It chronologically explains Dali's life till he meets Gala and then it loses the focus. There are many paintings with not much of an explanation and randomly in much later pages there is bit of an analysis to the painting. It didnt elaborate well what kind of painting methods Dali has used, or evolutions he went through as an artist which is usually very interesting to read about. Through last half ot he book i was not sure about the timeline only to discover that in the last 2,3 pages was the timeline of his life. Text is also very poorly written.
I did discover many paintings, different aspects of Dali that i didnt know before. The book also gave me a taste of who Dali was. Many of his paintings are pure bliss to the eye, but many are also confusing and horrifying. I would have really liked more explanation on the paintings.
Before buying this book, i was planning on buying similar books from Taschen as well, as the prices are attractive. But now i decided i rather pay more and get a book with good quality printing and satisfying content.
But the text! and the structure of the book i really didnt like. Overall the structure it is very inconsistent. It chronologically explains Dali's life till he meets Gala and then it loses the focus. There are many paintings with not much of an explanation and randomly in much later pages there is bit of an analysis to the painting. It didnt elaborate well what kind of painting methods Dali has used, or evolutions he went through as an artist which is usually very interesting to read about. Through last half ot he book i was not sure about the timeline only to discover that in the last 2,3 pages was the timeline of his life. Text is also very poorly written.
I did discover many paintings, different aspects of Dali that i didnt know before. The book also gave me a taste of who Dali was. Many of his paintings are pure bliss to the eye, but many are also confusing and horrifying. I would have really liked more explanation on the paintings.
Before buying this book, i was planning on buying similar books from Taschen as well, as the prices are attractive. But now i decided i rather pay more and get a book with good quality printing and satisfying content.
November 12, 2022
Silpniausiai iš šios serijos (iš to ką skaičiau) suredaguota ir sumaketuota knyga. Iliustracijos padrikokai sudėtos, ne tik, kad kelis puslapius reik vartyti norint rasti tą, apie kurią rašoma, bet kartais ir kelis dešimtis puslapių. Tekste irgi trūko chronologijos ir labai daug pridėta Dali citatų ir išraukų iš jo paties knygų, tarsi užkamšyti vietą tekste.
Man teko lankytis Dali muziejuje, jo gimtajame Figuerese. Paliko tikrai ryškų įspūdį ir labai rekomenduoju, jei būsite Gironoje, skirti laiko ir nuvažiuoti į jį. Man pačiai būtų dabar daug naudingiau ten apsilankyti jau perskaičius knygą, nes su jo kūriniais, kartais nežinai nuo kurio galo pradėti analizuoti.
Knyga tikrai netiks pirmai pažinčiai su autoriumi, tačiau man visumoje susiskaitė įdomiai.
Man teko lankytis Dali muziejuje, jo gimtajame Figuerese. Paliko tikrai ryškų įspūdį ir labai rekomenduoju, jei būsite Gironoje, skirti laiko ir nuvažiuoti į jį. Man pačiai būtų dabar daug naudingiau ten apsilankyti jau perskaičius knygą, nes su jo kūriniais, kartais nežinai nuo kurio galo pradėti analizuoti.
Knyga tikrai netiks pirmai pažinčiai su autoriumi, tačiau man visumoje susiskaitė įdomiai.
May 9, 2018
«La diferencia entre los surrealistas y yo es que yo soy surrealista».
Irreverente, polémico y provocador, Salvador Dalí fue sin duda una de las personalidades del siglo XX, y este libro constituye un muy buen estudio sobre su vida y producción, resultando imperdible para los que deseen comprender mejor su obra.
Irreverente, polémico y provocador, Salvador Dalí fue sin duda una de las personalidades del siglo XX, y este libro constituye un muy buen estudio sobre su vida y producción, resultando imperdible para los que deseen comprender mejor su obra.
January 14, 2023
Salvador Dali, the egomaniacal madman of art.
His surrealist pictures are breath taking and his brought the surrealism off of the canvas and into real life. This book functions as both a collection and presentation of Dali's art as well as a biography of the artist often in his own words.
Dali is weird and it's hard to tell if there's another Dali hidden under all the antics. He acts out quite often and seems to deliberately try to get a rise out of people. If Dali were alive today he would, undoubtedly, be a twitter troll. And I'm unsure if that's just how he was or if it was, at least to some degree, marketing. Controversy = Cash and all that.
Additionally, the book rather sidesteps the issue of Dali's flirtations with fascism. It talks about his Hitler, which would ultimately get him expelled from the Surrealist club. We get very little of the criticisms of it and much of Dali's defense. Dali defends his fascination with Hitler as being primarily fantasy and that he would himself have been ostracized by the nazis because of his work. Dali constantly attempted to sit on the fence and claim to be apolitical.
But.. like.. dude. Apolitical people don't paint Hitler. They don't write about how they are increasingly falling in love with existing hierarchical power structures. They don't paint nazis, nazi symbols, and nazi subject matter. And Dali certainly isn't taking Hitler to task. At least, it doesn't seem to me to be so. One of his paintings is of Hitler masturbating on a chair carried by four horses. A figure on horseback is heroic imagery used to immortalize and propagandize. That Dali has dabbled in the sexual doesn't seem to be in parody here. There's always the chance that Dali focused on Hitler to get a rise out of everyone as was his wont but it's impossible to defend. I think the clincher here is that while the book will describe Dali's nazi paintings none of them appear to be printed within it. The book is willing to print Dali's defense of his nazi phase at face value but it is unwilling to print Dali's nazi paintings. I wonder why.
Additionally being apolitical would seem at odds with his constant state of hostility with forces even in his own art movement. You don't paint anuses and shit to get a rise out of your fellow artists without it being a political statement. All art is political and if shit weren't a line anyone cared about crossing he'd have simply gone to a further extreme. It's like Schroedinger's Douchebag. You know, that guy on the internet who says something patently offensive and claims to have been joking when called out on it.
What the book leaves out altogether is that Dali was quite fond of fascism at home. The Spanish Civil War is mentioned only in passing. Spain was conquered by fascist rebels and fell under their yoke for decades. There are still political descendants of Franco in powerful positions. The war is brought up once in reference to Dali's painting Premonition of Civil War in which Dali seems to have a vision of the coming conflict. He painted it 6 months before it broke out. It's not so much a premonition as it is seeing the writing on the wall. We get no mention of Dali's support for Franco calling him a hero of Spain. I'm guessing that Dali didn't even offer a weak excuse for this possibly because he was living in fascist Spain and was never going to be called out on it.
Comparisons are often drawn to Picasso. This is natural, they were contemporaries. Picasso actively opposed the Franco regime. He painted Guernica, a visceral piece on the horrors of war and specifically about a German bombing of a Spanish town. Dali seems to revel in dictators and oppressors. "Who was the better artist?" is a question which could be endlessly debated. "Who was the better human?" has an obvious answer. And perhaps a searching critique of Dali as fascist is beyond the scope of a 96 page art book but also you can't just kind of casually note that the subject was weirdly into Hitler and then not go anywhere with it.
And it's unfortunate because his paintings are breathtaking. There seem to be a few major themes in them that really get to me: his ability to make a human form from inhuman objects and the incredible geometry of his works. It makes you think about what makes a human when you see one rendered from inanimate objects so clearly that you have to look a second time to see all the objects from the gestalt. It's a theme he comes back to over and over and each iteration makes you see humans in a new one. Even his later religious art like a work featuring a face formed in the swirling detritus of an exploded dome. The way his landscapes twist into recognizable human forms seems to be a precursor for the way Giger would do the same with his psychosexual technological landscapes.
His precise geometry and draughtsmanship adds such to dimension to the painting. Pieces exploded into cubes or separated from their supports in defiance of gravity but without any loss of the sense of weight of the object. The perspective is so perfect that it is jaw dropping, almost painful to behold. It is an unreal image with the unmistakable heft and perfect of real objects that they become entrancing, your eyes tracing the various lines and their perfect alignment.
I also like his other approach to the human body: making it soft, elongated, and tumorous. The book supplies other explanations but Dali's exaggerated human forms, often held aloft only by elaborate structures of crutches, have a striking quality to them reminiscent of injury or illness. Bereft of animation or, often, even life itself they are still unmistakably human and it creates a weird feeling in me. Like that could be me if I got sick enough. There's a certain fascinating revulsion to these forms for me.
One just wishes that Dali hadn't been such a piece of shit.
His surrealist pictures are breath taking and his brought the surrealism off of the canvas and into real life. This book functions as both a collection and presentation of Dali's art as well as a biography of the artist often in his own words.
Dali is weird and it's hard to tell if there's another Dali hidden under all the antics. He acts out quite often and seems to deliberately try to get a rise out of people. If Dali were alive today he would, undoubtedly, be a twitter troll. And I'm unsure if that's just how he was or if it was, at least to some degree, marketing. Controversy = Cash and all that.
Additionally, the book rather sidesteps the issue of Dali's flirtations with fascism. It talks about his Hitler, which would ultimately get him expelled from the Surrealist club. We get very little of the criticisms of it and much of Dali's defense. Dali defends his fascination with Hitler as being primarily fantasy and that he would himself have been ostracized by the nazis because of his work. Dali constantly attempted to sit on the fence and claim to be apolitical.
But.. like.. dude. Apolitical people don't paint Hitler. They don't write about how they are increasingly falling in love with existing hierarchical power structures. They don't paint nazis, nazi symbols, and nazi subject matter. And Dali certainly isn't taking Hitler to task. At least, it doesn't seem to me to be so. One of his paintings is of Hitler masturbating on a chair carried by four horses. A figure on horseback is heroic imagery used to immortalize and propagandize. That Dali has dabbled in the sexual doesn't seem to be in parody here. There's always the chance that Dali focused on Hitler to get a rise out of everyone as was his wont but it's impossible to defend. I think the clincher here is that while the book will describe Dali's nazi paintings none of them appear to be printed within it. The book is willing to print Dali's defense of his nazi phase at face value but it is unwilling to print Dali's nazi paintings. I wonder why.
Additionally being apolitical would seem at odds with his constant state of hostility with forces even in his own art movement. You don't paint anuses and shit to get a rise out of your fellow artists without it being a political statement. All art is political and if shit weren't a line anyone cared about crossing he'd have simply gone to a further extreme. It's like Schroedinger's Douchebag. You know, that guy on the internet who says something patently offensive and claims to have been joking when called out on it.
What the book leaves out altogether is that Dali was quite fond of fascism at home. The Spanish Civil War is mentioned only in passing. Spain was conquered by fascist rebels and fell under their yoke for decades. There are still political descendants of Franco in powerful positions. The war is brought up once in reference to Dali's painting Premonition of Civil War in which Dali seems to have a vision of the coming conflict. He painted it 6 months before it broke out. It's not so much a premonition as it is seeing the writing on the wall. We get no mention of Dali's support for Franco calling him a hero of Spain. I'm guessing that Dali didn't even offer a weak excuse for this possibly because he was living in fascist Spain and was never going to be called out on it.
Comparisons are often drawn to Picasso. This is natural, they were contemporaries. Picasso actively opposed the Franco regime. He painted Guernica, a visceral piece on the horrors of war and specifically about a German bombing of a Spanish town. Dali seems to revel in dictators and oppressors. "Who was the better artist?" is a question which could be endlessly debated. "Who was the better human?" has an obvious answer. And perhaps a searching critique of Dali as fascist is beyond the scope of a 96 page art book but also you can't just kind of casually note that the subject was weirdly into Hitler and then not go anywhere with it.
And it's unfortunate because his paintings are breathtaking. There seem to be a few major themes in them that really get to me: his ability to make a human form from inhuman objects and the incredible geometry of his works. It makes you think about what makes a human when you see one rendered from inanimate objects so clearly that you have to look a second time to see all the objects from the gestalt. It's a theme he comes back to over and over and each iteration makes you see humans in a new one. Even his later religious art like a work featuring a face formed in the swirling detritus of an exploded dome. The way his landscapes twist into recognizable human forms seems to be a precursor for the way Giger would do the same with his psychosexual technological landscapes.
His precise geometry and draughtsmanship adds such to dimension to the painting. Pieces exploded into cubes or separated from their supports in defiance of gravity but without any loss of the sense of weight of the object. The perspective is so perfect that it is jaw dropping, almost painful to behold. It is an unreal image with the unmistakable heft and perfect of real objects that they become entrancing, your eyes tracing the various lines and their perfect alignment.
I also like his other approach to the human body: making it soft, elongated, and tumorous. The book supplies other explanations but Dali's exaggerated human forms, often held aloft only by elaborate structures of crutches, have a striking quality to them reminiscent of injury or illness. Bereft of animation or, often, even life itself they are still unmistakably human and it creates a weird feeling in me. Like that could be me if I got sick enough. There's a certain fascinating revulsion to these forms for me.
One just wishes that Dali hadn't been such a piece of shit.
June 12, 2019
Amazing dalí . I love it
November 5, 2012
I saw the Dali exhibit at the Philadelphia art museum about five years ago and really felt a kinship with him. I also felt the same way about Frida Kahlo. Maybe I like Spanish speaker artists better than European or American ones. They seem more cultured.
Anyway, I bought the book at this cute cd store on 17th and Samson a couple weeks ago and liked looking at the pictures and skimming the book about his theories about art and his life story. I thought it was interesting that he looked so young pre-WWII and then they had a picture of him in 1950 (he was born in 1904) and he aged quite a bit. I guess war can do that to someone.
But, nevertheless, I saw the museum where he was born in Figueras, Spain 12 years ago, and while I thought it was too crazy (the castle surrounding the city was much more exciting), I look back and admire what he did.
So "reading" this book made me think I was in the know and that I could understand surrealism (that's what Dali and his group of Parisian friends studied). Maybe when I first saw his work, I could identify with him and be cool by knowing him by association. Ditto with Frida Kahlo.
Anyway, I bought the book at this cute cd store on 17th and Samson a couple weeks ago and liked looking at the pictures and skimming the book about his theories about art and his life story. I thought it was interesting that he looked so young pre-WWII and then they had a picture of him in 1950 (he was born in 1904) and he aged quite a bit. I guess war can do that to someone.
But, nevertheless, I saw the museum where he was born in Figueras, Spain 12 years ago, and while I thought it was too crazy (the castle surrounding the city was much more exciting), I look back and admire what he did.
So "reading" this book made me think I was in the know and that I could understand surrealism (that's what Dali and his group of Parisian friends studied). Maybe when I first saw his work, I could identify with him and be cool by knowing him by association. Ditto with Frida Kahlo.
August 6, 2016
Dalí is a master of materially and symbolically manifesting not only his own obsessions and paranoias, but also of doing so in a manner that resonates with all humanity, for they are the specters that haunt the human spirit.
A master of surrealism, Dalí's works belch forth the aborted excrement of the real, planting the seed of paranoic instability in reality, opening the cracks through which ever seep the impossible; the vertigo of a revolving interiority-exteriority set eternally spining like the top with which the gods play.
A master of surrealism, Dalí's works belch forth the aborted excrement of the real, planting the seed of paranoic instability in reality, opening the cracks through which ever seep the impossible; the vertigo of a revolving interiority-exteriority set eternally spining like the top with which the gods play.
September 2, 2021
‘My whole ambition in the pictorial domain is to materialize the images of concrete irrationality with the most imperialist fury of perception… images which provisionally are neither explicable nor reducible by the systems of logical intuition or by the rational mechanisms.
Paranoiac-critical activity: spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based on the interpretive-critical association of delirious phenomena.
- Dali
Paranoiac-critical activity: spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based on the interpretive-critical association of delirious phenomena.
- Dali
January 17, 2009
This collection is a great taste of Dali. I love the symbolism in his art -- which include major themes of life -- love, death, religion, aging, reality, art, science, etc. Each piece seems to have hidden symbolic treasures upon close inspection. And his imagination ... wow!
Good price for someone interested in checking out Dali.
Good price for someone interested in checking out Dali.
September 26, 2013
Io e Dalí condividiamo molto il modo in cui si devono vedere correttamente certe cose. Chi dice che Dalí è "assurdo" semplicemente non ha capito un granché. Perché lui in realtà ha dipinto "tutto". Edizione meravigliosa, con delucidazioni chiare e citazioni bellissime.
March 1, 2014
It's Dali- words cannot describe...
August 3, 2022
Sometimes I find it funny that art should be arranged into movements, since it's a form that should fundamentally defy classification, with any attempt at doing so seeming rather pretentious; but our natural tendency toward order and categorization prevents us from accepting this. I suppose, however, that the term surrealism gives some voice to the creativity and strangeness of Dali's artistic abilities (though in a great illustration of the arbitrary nature of any art movement, he was himself "expelled" from the Surrealists).
I'm no art critic nor do I know how to write about art, so the best I can give here is my point of view. Dali's paintings by their very provocativeness and defiance of (and later homage to) natural laws of physics, as well as modern aesthetics, are endlessly fascinating to unpack and analyze. He both acknowledges the standards that people bring to art appraisal, while making the point that such standards are subjective and perhaps should not exist in the first place; he has a similar view on whether art should or should not "make sense." Had he allowed himself to be locked down by such restrictions, which always fluctuate based on the time period, the world would have been deprived of so much fearless, scandalous creative power. So, even though I don't necessarily like the subject matter of some of his works, I can respect the tenacity, openness and multifaceted nature of the mind behind their creation. A point of view that I wish the so-called Surrealists of his time could have shared - you can't exactly call yourself a "revolutionary" movement if you're easily offended by those who dare to break the mold.
A few other unexpected discoveries I made from this book:
(1) His mastery of the trompe l'oeil technique is absurdly good. My only prior memory of his art being The Persistence of Memory, I was stunned by how well he could create optical illusions in his paintings, with the seemingly effortless placement of a few properly shaped objects, or through the combination of a multitude of tiny components like in Gala Placidia. It's amazing to consider how he came up with such a concept, let alone how he executed it so flawlessly.
(2) Dali is at least as good of a writer as he is a painter, if not better. As writing is also a form of art, it must have been another great avenue for him to express his views on life, religion/mysticism, etc. Although not everything he's written has been autobiographical, the few excerpts I read from The Secret Life of Salvador Dali and Diary of a Genius ranged from sharp-witted to poetic to philosophical, and sometimes all three, which again illustrates the brilliance of the mind behind the art.
(3) Unlike other artists, Dali has provided background/interpretation on some of his works, which on one level gives us an easy understanding of his more confusing (and/or scandalous) paintings, but on the other makes me wonder how he ever managed to perceive and incorporate so much symbolism into his art. The soft watches in The Persistence of Memory came from an image of melting Camembert and how people are slaves to their rigid timepieces. He depicts drawers and cupboards opening out of bodies as a representation of Freud's psychoanalytic theories. Eggs are a common motif, a symbol of a "pre-natal" world; and his wife Gala is a recurring image in his work, taking on a religious significance in some instances. Later, discoveries on the nature of the atom heavily influence his subject matter as well. In short, it's amazing to me how one man could so artistically combine the inner and outer universe of his existence.
Thanks to this book, I can now extend my list of Dali favorites to include the following paintings:
- The Persistence of Memory
- The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory
- Eggs on the Plate (without the Plate)
- Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's "Angelus"
- A Couple with their Heads Full of Clouds
- Metamorphosis of Narcissus
- "Geopoliticus" Child Watching the Birth of the New Man
- Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon
- Gala Placidia
- Nuclear Cross
- Exploding Raphaelesque Head
And now I'm on my way to watch "An Andalusian Dog", which I'm sure will weird me out given what I've heard of it, but sometimes it takes a little weird to make you appreciate your normal everyday existence - and to give a little shock to your creativity.
I'm no art critic nor do I know how to write about art, so the best I can give here is my point of view. Dali's paintings by their very provocativeness and defiance of (and later homage to) natural laws of physics, as well as modern aesthetics, are endlessly fascinating to unpack and analyze. He both acknowledges the standards that people bring to art appraisal, while making the point that such standards are subjective and perhaps should not exist in the first place; he has a similar view on whether art should or should not "make sense." Had he allowed himself to be locked down by such restrictions, which always fluctuate based on the time period, the world would have been deprived of so much fearless, scandalous creative power. So, even though I don't necessarily like the subject matter of some of his works, I can respect the tenacity, openness and multifaceted nature of the mind behind their creation. A point of view that I wish the so-called Surrealists of his time could have shared - you can't exactly call yourself a "revolutionary" movement if you're easily offended by those who dare to break the mold.
A few other unexpected discoveries I made from this book:
(1) His mastery of the trompe l'oeil technique is absurdly good. My only prior memory of his art being The Persistence of Memory, I was stunned by how well he could create optical illusions in his paintings, with the seemingly effortless placement of a few properly shaped objects, or through the combination of a multitude of tiny components like in Gala Placidia. It's amazing to consider how he came up with such a concept, let alone how he executed it so flawlessly.
(2) Dali is at least as good of a writer as he is a painter, if not better. As writing is also a form of art, it must have been another great avenue for him to express his views on life, religion/mysticism, etc. Although not everything he's written has been autobiographical, the few excerpts I read from The Secret Life of Salvador Dali and Diary of a Genius ranged from sharp-witted to poetic to philosophical, and sometimes all three, which again illustrates the brilliance of the mind behind the art.
(3) Unlike other artists, Dali has provided background/interpretation on some of his works, which on one level gives us an easy understanding of his more confusing (and/or scandalous) paintings, but on the other makes me wonder how he ever managed to perceive and incorporate so much symbolism into his art. The soft watches in The Persistence of Memory came from an image of melting Camembert and how people are slaves to their rigid timepieces. He depicts drawers and cupboards opening out of bodies as a representation of Freud's psychoanalytic theories. Eggs are a common motif, a symbol of a "pre-natal" world; and his wife Gala is a recurring image in his work, taking on a religious significance in some instances. Later, discoveries on the nature of the atom heavily influence his subject matter as well. In short, it's amazing to me how one man could so artistically combine the inner and outer universe of his existence.
Thanks to this book, I can now extend my list of Dali favorites to include the following paintings:
- The Persistence of Memory
- The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory
- Eggs on the Plate (without the Plate)
- Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet's "Angelus"
- A Couple with their Heads Full of Clouds
- Metamorphosis of Narcissus
- "Geopoliticus" Child Watching the Birth of the New Man
- Soft Self-Portrait with Grilled Bacon
- Gala Placidia
- Nuclear Cross
- Exploding Raphaelesque Head
And now I'm on my way to watch "An Andalusian Dog", which I'm sure will weird me out given what I've heard of it, but sometimes it takes a little weird to make you appreciate your normal everyday existence - and to give a little shock to your creativity.
July 14, 2023
The book is a collection of Dali’s most prominent and scandalous paintings, with commentaries from both the writer and Dali himself. The latter were collected primarily from Dali’s autobiography titled “The Diary of a Genius”. Go figure.
It’s difficult to decide whose writing is more pretentious in this commentary cocktail, though my personal pick would definitely be Dali. Take some of his following quotes for example.
“Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joy is mine: that of being Salvador Dali.”
“Catalonia (his home region) has produced three great geniuses, and one of them is Dali ; the savior of modern painting.”
And my personal favorite:
“ Oh Dali, now you know the truth; that if you act the genius, you will indeed be one.”
For the most part though. I would argue that this act was quite justified by his work.
Knowing next to nothing about the difference between great artwork and random lines drawn on a white piece of paper, even I could marvel at the extent to which the human imagination can be stretched while looking at some of his paintings. Dali is to Surrealism is what Freud is to Psychology, more or less synonymous given their monumental influences in the genre.
In fact, Freud was a personal hero of Dali and many of his paintings reflect elements inspired from Freudian theories.
Dali also took inspiration from the atomic explosions made during WWII, and had a self-proclaimed kink for Hitler. He was disowned by his father for publishing a painting of Christ, upon which he wrote, “Sometimes for fun, I spit at my mother’s portrait.”
Needless to say. Dali was well aware of the advantages of sensationalism as a commercial artist; and repeatedly used it to his benefit throughout his career - despite the justified grimaces and raised eyebrows coming from his contemporaries and audiences. Many of them paid to arrange and visit his exhibitions nonetheless.
While I share many of these grimaces, I found both his work and personal life equally deranged and interesting. If you can endure the unnecessarily pretentious writing for about a 100 pages or so, this could very well be a standard “Dali for dummies”.
3 out of 5.
It’s difficult to decide whose writing is more pretentious in this commentary cocktail, though my personal pick would definitely be Dali. Take some of his following quotes for example.
“Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joy is mine: that of being Salvador Dali.”
“Catalonia (his home region) has produced three great geniuses, and one of them is Dali ; the savior of modern painting.”
And my personal favorite:
“ Oh Dali, now you know the truth; that if you act the genius, you will indeed be one.”
For the most part though. I would argue that this act was quite justified by his work.
Knowing next to nothing about the difference between great artwork and random lines drawn on a white piece of paper, even I could marvel at the extent to which the human imagination can be stretched while looking at some of his paintings. Dali is to Surrealism is what Freud is to Psychology, more or less synonymous given their monumental influences in the genre.
In fact, Freud was a personal hero of Dali and many of his paintings reflect elements inspired from Freudian theories.
Dali also took inspiration from the atomic explosions made during WWII, and had a self-proclaimed kink for Hitler. He was disowned by his father for publishing a painting of Christ, upon which he wrote, “Sometimes for fun, I spit at my mother’s portrait.”
Needless to say. Dali was well aware of the advantages of sensationalism as a commercial artist; and repeatedly used it to his benefit throughout his career - despite the justified grimaces and raised eyebrows coming from his contemporaries and audiences. Many of them paid to arrange and visit his exhibitions nonetheless.
While I share many of these grimaces, I found both his work and personal life equally deranged and interesting. If you can endure the unnecessarily pretentious writing for about a 100 pages or so, this could very well be a standard “Dali for dummies”.
3 out of 5.
January 6, 2023
Una buena guía para acercarse a la obra de Dalí. Se hace un repaso de la evolución pictórica que experimentó el artista, a la vez que se cuentan datos relevantes de su vida, que tuvieron una fuerte influencia en su trabajo.
En mi opinión, la lectura sería mucho más cómoda si no hubiese que hacer tanto salto de página, ya que, lo ideal sería tener el cuadro en la misma página que su descripción.
Por otro lado, no tenía mucha información personal sobre Dalí antes de esta lectura, a parte de que era una persona sumamente excéntrica. Tras este libro, y complementando información con internet y documentales, añado a mi opinión inicial la de: ególatra y narcisista. Fue un genio de la pintura, pero realmente me parece vergonzoso beatificar a este personaje que enarbolaba prácticas inmorales y que presentaba, e incluso presumía, de una falta total de empatía. No sé, entiendo que el surrealismo es sinónimo de provocación, pero después de ver apariciones públicas y de leer testimonios del pintor, creo que tiene que existir un filtro y ojalá alguien le hubiese llevado a que recibiese ayuda psicológica o le hubiese puesto un tapón en la boca directamente.
Por si alguien quiere verle en plena acción👇🏻
https://youtu.be/sskYRidQoN8
En mi opinión, la lectura sería mucho más cómoda si no hubiese que hacer tanto salto de página, ya que, lo ideal sería tener el cuadro en la misma página que su descripción.
Por otro lado, no tenía mucha información personal sobre Dalí antes de esta lectura, a parte de que era una persona sumamente excéntrica. Tras este libro, y complementando información con internet y documentales, añado a mi opinión inicial la de: ególatra y narcisista. Fue un genio de la pintura, pero realmente me parece vergonzoso beatificar a este personaje que enarbolaba prácticas inmorales y que presentaba, e incluso presumía, de una falta total de empatía. No sé, entiendo que el surrealismo es sinónimo de provocación, pero después de ver apariciones públicas y de leer testimonios del pintor, creo que tiene que existir un filtro y ojalá alguien le hubiese llevado a que recibiese ayuda psicológica o le hubiese puesto un tapón en la boca directamente.
Por si alguien quiere verle en plena acción👇🏻
https://youtu.be/sskYRidQoN8
September 27, 2024
What exactly was Dali's so-called "paranoiac-critical method"? Dali offered an explanation in one of his seminal essays, 'The Conquest of the Irrational', 1935: "My whole ambition in the pictorial domain is to materialize the images of concrete irrationality with the most imperialist fury of precision... images which provisionally are neither expliclable nor reducible by the systems of logical intuition or by the rational mechanisms." He went on to stress "Paranoiac-critical activity: spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based upon the interpretive-critical association of delirious phenomena." These phenomena already comprise the systematic structure in its entirety and "only become objective a posteriori by critical intervention." The infinite possibilities of the paranoiac-critical method can be born solely of the "obsessing idea", Dali concluded with what appreared to be an about-turn but which in fact was a warning: anticipating with exceptional insight the connection between the consumer society and the atavistic need for the edible, he declared that these semblances of the imponderable conceal nothing less than "the very well-known, sanguinary and irrational grilled cutlet which shall eat us all".
January 26, 2022
For anyone interested in one of the originators of surreal art, or simply Dali himself, enigmatic figure that he is, this is an excellent, small but thick full-color book. There is a clear, full-color (albeit small) reproduction of his major artworks on every single page. On the opposite pages is an ongoing text about Dali and his life, including his personal relationship and events in his life which may have influenced his work, including quotes from the artist.
My only complaint is that the text's timeline does not match the work on the opposite page, so you do have to keep flipping back and forth to see the works which the text is referring to, being several years behind or ahead of the works on the adjacent pages. That was a touch confusing, but otherwise, a very interesting little book.
My only complaint is that the text's timeline does not match the work on the opposite page, so you do have to keep flipping back and forth to see the works which the text is referring to, being several years behind or ahead of the works on the adjacent pages. That was a touch confusing, but otherwise, a very interesting little book.
June 1, 2017
La vida, pasión e inspiración de Dalí por el arte y el surrealismo se ven reflejadas en sus obras más célebres; conocer el transfondo y el simbolismo que usaba en cada pintura le dio un valor mayor a mi admiración por el gran genio que fue Salvador porque todo su recorrido artístico fue basado en sus experiencias más íntimas con la vida misma, su familia y con sus relaciones interpersonales con grandes magnates y genios de la historia.
Ver realmente el significado de cada objeto colodado en sus pinturas me hizo observar y apreciar aún más detalles nunca antes percibidos, además, Dalí se transformó en uno de mis pintores favoritos gracias a su excentricidad y locura racional que plasmó en cada pintura y demás objetos artísticos creados
Ver realmente el significado de cada objeto colodado en sus pinturas me hizo observar y apreciar aún más detalles nunca antes percibidos, además, Dalí se transformó en uno de mis pintores favoritos gracias a su excentricidad y locura racional que plasmó en cada pintura y demás objetos artísticos creados
August 10, 2017
Dit boek is niet wat ik had verwacht. Ik hoopte op een algemene korte biografie om meer te weten te komen over het leven van Salvador Dali, het bleek echter meer te gaan over de gedachtegang van deze man en wat hem behelsde om zijn schilderijen te maken. Gezien die voornamelijk van surrealistische aard zijn word dat al snel een ingewikkeld verhaal waar termen als 'metafysische wereld', 'erotisch delirium' genoemd worden gepaard met zijn paranoïde-kritische methode en fecale periode. Ja, fecale periode; de tijd waarin hij schilderijen met tekeningen van en referenties naar ontlasting maakte.
Nee, dit boek is geen aanbeveling.
Nee, dit boek is geen aanbeveling.
September 20, 2022
A great and quick read if you’ve never knew who Salvador Dali is. The book showed various drawings of Dali, and you could see in a lot of them his wife, Gala, who he adored throughout his life.
The book captures his eccentric and egotistical thought process. His flamboyant ideology of saving the art world through scandalous paintings is what I believe what made him truly popular. You need to rile up emotions if you wish to be not forgotten, which Dali played well with his surrealist art pieces.
The book captures his eccentric and egotistical thought process. His flamboyant ideology of saving the art world through scandalous paintings is what I believe what made him truly popular. You need to rile up emotions if you wish to be not forgotten, which Dali played well with his surrealist art pieces.
July 21, 2024
Really enjoyed it, the paintings are nice and the biography is brief and informative. My main criticism is that the book may have been more enjoyable if the paintings shown were more relevant to the period of biography being covered. Oftentimes the biography is focusing on a specific painting and I have to find the painting independently instead of it simply being on the opposite page, this is a minor critique tho and my overall experience was very positive, too bad this guy had such awful political beliefs
August 7, 2019
So much of Dali's art is too weird for me, although you almost can't look away and you feel compelled to try and figure our his nightmare visions and what they might mean. One of those artists that will provide grist for the critic's mill for centuries likely. There were some paintings I adored though, far less famous than his melting timepieces and erotic visions. I love his Basket of Bread (1945) and Figure at a Window (1925).
September 22, 2023
Salvador Dalí, the brilliant Spanish artist, lived from 1904 to 1989. His surrealistic paintings, such as "The Persistence of Memory" and "The Elephants," showcased his unique imagination and dreamlike visions. Dalí's works often featured melting clocks, distorted figures, and bizarre landscapes, challenging the boundaries of reality and exploring the depths of the subconscious mind. His artistic legacy continues to inspire and intrigue art enthusiasts around the world. 🎨✨
September 22, 2023
Salvador Dalí: 1904-1989 was a renowned Spanish surrealist artist known for his eccentric personality and groundbreaking artwork. His imaginative and dreamlike paintings, such as "The Persistence of Memory," have left a lasting impact on the art world. Dalí's unique style combined elements of surrealism, symbolism, and realism, creating visually striking and thought-provoking pieces. His contributions to art continue to captivate and inspire audiences around the world. 🎨✨👨🎨
November 4, 2018
Dalí was one of the major contributors to the Surrealist movement; this book is a beautiful tapestry of his artwork organized in chronological order throughout the years and really showed how he developed as an artist. Dalí was highly imaginative; each piece had so much detail and symbolism. 1977 was his best year, when his surrealist pieces reached its pinnacle in technique and form.
April 4, 2019
I have always enjoyed Dali's paintings and eccentricities. most of the artistic explanations in this book went over my head. Nevertheless I got more of an insight into his work and the conquest of irrationalism.
The best part for me was flicking through the paintings and reading the little text of explanation next to them. I am now an even bigger fan of his work.
The best part for me was flicking through the paintings and reading the little text of explanation next to them. I am now an even bigger fan of his work.
June 11, 2020
A short volume, glossily produced, giving plentiful examples of Dali's work. I do not begin to understand the meaning of his images and the text left me sometimes in awe and sometimes it reinforced my own feeling of ignorance. Some beautiful pieces here amongst some bizarre. More genius than madman.
April 2, 2019
Sadly, I found this book to be so poorly written and organized that my attention was always shifting between Dalí's beautiful paintings and the author's mediocre ability to tell his story.
I will definitely have buy a better book about this artist.
I will definitely have buy a better book about this artist.
March 18, 2020
A Taschen book, which is full of lovely, but strange paintings. I still don’t think I understand Dali’s work at all. As with the other Taschen book I bought with this one, since buying them I struggled to read the small font so treated it as a picture book.
January 18, 2021
The book blew mind regarding the possibilities of what can constitute art. Though Dali's political views seem shaky (as narrated in the book) I absolutely love the complexity that he brought out on canvas.
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