Salvador Dali1904-1989

As a young man, Dali began to study

art at the Royal Academy of Art in

Madrid. He was expelled twice and

never took the final examinations. His

opinion was that he was more

qualified than those who should

have examined him.

S. Dali – The three sphinxes

By 1929 Dali had found his personal style that should make him famous - the world of the unconscious that is recalled during our dreams

The surrealist theory is based on the theories of the psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud.

Recurring images of burning giraffes and melting watches became Dali's surrealist trademarks

S. Dali – The Persistence of MemoryDali’s most famous & most recognizable painting ever.

Sewing MachineWith Umbrella

S.Dali - Spellbound

In 1933 Salvador Dali had his first one-man show in New York. One year later he visited the U.S. for the first time supported by a loan of US$500 from Pablo Picasso. To evade World War II, Dali chose the U.S.A. as his permanent residence in 1940.

Shortly after moving, he began a series of religious paintings in the USA.

Christ of Saint John of the Cross is a painting by Salvador Dalí made in 1951. It depicts Jesus Christ on the cross in a darkened sky floating over a body of water complete with a boat and fishermen. Although it is a depiction of the crucifixion, it is devoid of nails, blood, and a crown of thorns, because, according to Dalí, he was convinced by a dream that these features would mar his depiction of Christ. Also in a dream, the importance of depicting Christ in the extreme angle evident in the painting was revealed to him.

Gala’s Christ

(latter work 1970’s)Stereoscopic work

In 1945, Dali met a man names Walt Disney & worked on a short film together. All that remain are storyboards & 17 seconds of bizarre animation.

In 1975 he met H.R. Giger & began a friendship with the airbrushsurrealist that designed the xenomorph & environment in Alien.

Giger

Useless Trivia

• When signing autographs for fans, Dalí would always keep their pens.

• When interviewed by Mike Wallace on his 60 Minutes television show, Dalí kept referring to himself in the third person.

• During another television appearance, on The Tonight Show, Dalí carried with him a leather rhinoceros and refused to sit upon anything else.