The Life and Work of Salvador Dali

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Salvador Dali

Select an artist whose work has not been studied in class.  In point form present a brief biography of the artist’s life.

  • Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech was born on May 11, 1904 in the town of Figueras, Catalonia, Spain, and was the son of a prestigious notary public.
  • Dali devoted much time to drawing and painting, and showed substantial talent for artistry when he was young.
  • Dali was spoilt as a child and began acting aggressively towards others when he was ten.
  • Dali loved to throw himself down stairs when he was young.  This was to attract other people’s attention.
  • In another incident, Dali was given a wounded bat, which he placed in a washhouse.  The next morning, he found it decomposing and covered in ants.  Out of pure passion, he bit the bat, and the image of frenzied ants can be seen in some of his works such as the Persistence of Memory, 1931.
  • Dali was a poor student at the Academy of the Brothers of the Marist Order, although he showed great talent in art.
  • In 1918, Dali was sent to live with Ramon Pitchot, a family friend, connoisseur of art, and talented Impressionist painter
  • Dali became obsessed with a room full of Pitchot's Impressionist paintings in the tower, and spent hours there admiring them, eating, and painting.
  • In 1920-1921 Dali was exposed to, and influenced by, the Italian Futurists, Bonnard, and Eugene Carriere.  
  • In 1921, at the age of seventeen, Dali entered the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.  
  • Dali was suspended for one year at the Academy in 1923 because of indiscipline.
  • Dali’s antisocial behaviour continued after he returned to the Academy, and he was subsequently expelled in 1926.
  • In 1928, Dali moved to Paris, and was exposed to the Paris Surrealists.
  • He joined the movement in 1929 and produced his first surrealist paintings, including Illumined Pleasures, 1929.
  • In that year, Dali also met his future wife and lifelong partner, Gala.  She would feature in most of Dali’s works.
  • In the late 1930's, Dali's painting style moved to a more academic style.  
  • Between 1937 and 1939, Dali made three trips to Italy, where he studied Palladio, the Renaissance, and the Baroque.  It was these influences that had him expelled from the Surrealists.
  • Before Hitler’s invasion of France, Dali and Gala fled to America, where he wrote his autobiography The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.
  • Dali and Gala returned to Spain in 1948, where they lived for the rest of their lives.  
  • Dali’s style then returned to classicism, and this is seen in such works as The Madonna of Fort Lligat, 1950, and The Last Supper, 1955.  
  • In 1960, Dali started work on the Teatre Museu Gala Salvador Dalí in Figueras, which opened its doors in 1974.  He put much of his effort and energy into the museum, which he continued to expand into the mid 1980's.
  • Dali’s muse, Gala, died in 1982, and he lost much of his will to live.
  • He became a recluse at his home in Pubol, where he finished his last painting The Swallow's Tail, 1983.
  • In 1984, a mysterious fire broke out in his bedroom, which some suspect as a suicide attempt, and he was severely burned.  
  • Salvador Dali died on January 23, 1989 from heart failure.
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identify the style that the artist works in.  explain the characteristics of this style.

        
Salvador Dali's life and art were very closely related. Everything in his life was reflected in his art. All the major changes in his works and styles represented important turning points for him. When Dali was younger, he experimented with different styles. The first style he used was soft, blurry and seemed a little bit out of focus, although his use shadowing was well from the beginning. Dali's early works were not very impressive, but he was very talented and dedicated to his art work.

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