The topic of artistic painting does not go without the mentioning of Salvador Dali. He is considered as one of the best historical Spanish painter. His love for paining began at an early. Salvador is known for several famous painting; some of which have been stored in different historical museums. Salvador’s surrounding including his family and personal life had a big influence on his professional career. In a bid to understand how this celebrated painter began his career and faired with it, a biography examination can provide an in depth understanding of the same. The purpose of this paper is to provide a biography of Salvador Dali. The analysis will encompass a look at his personal and professional life. Further analysis will be about his relationship with other artists.
Personal and Professional Life
Salvador Dali was born in Spain (Figueres) on 11th May 1904. After the death of his elder brother, his father Rafael Salvador who was an anti-clerical atheist and a middle class lawyer and his mother heartened his arty deeds by taking him to his brother’s grave. He was still of a tender age when he was taken to his brother’s grave. Salvador wanted to take after his elder brother by being an artist. In his first artistic description using his elder brother as a subject, he said, “we resembled each other like two drops of water, but we have different reflections.” He “was probably a first version of myself but conceived too much in the absolute.” After this occurrence, Dali’s elder brother imageries kept reappearing rooted in his latest works, including Portrait of My Dead Brother .
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Dali grew up in Spain but later moved to Monturiol in 1912. His enthusiasm in drawing was noticed when his parents took him to a drawing school. Dali’s siblings had a key influence on his professional career. His sister, Anna Maria, was an author and published several books including one about his brother Dali dabbed “Dali as Seen by his Sister”. He is also famously known to being the best friends of former Barcelona football stars Samitier and Josep. In 1961 Dali joined a drawing school where he exposed a modern canvas on a summer retreat trip to Cadaques with the likes of Ramon Pichot, one of the famous artist ( Ross & Dali 55) . Those who love Artistic work would appreciate the work of the Spanish printmaker and Surrealist painter Salvador Dali as his Dad organized a display of his charcoal drawings in their household home. In 1918, Dali had his first public display at the Municipal Theater in Figueres, a place where he would return to years later. Early 1921, Dali’s mum died of uterus cancer, at this time Dali was 16 years of age, this become the greatest blow he experienced in life. After the of his mother, Dali’s father married his wife’s sister. Dali did not begrudge this marriage, since he had inordinate respect and love for his aunt.
Dali had a passion for traditional paining. He took keen focus on futurism, cubism and metaphysical painting. His notoriety and quick fame was one of the reason why he had a significance in the surrealist movement. In 1930, he was elected as one of the representatives of the art movement. Most of his works expressed exhibitionisms. He is considered as one of the artists that embraced the theory of automatism. Dali was also involved in Sculptures and the creation of other object. Among the common sculptures that he is known for include the Mae West Lips Sofa and the Lobster Telephone.
Relationship with other Artists
Apart from family and his personal life experiences, Dali’s relationship with other artists played a key role in his professional career. Dali in this professional journey always acknowledge his debt to several professionals in the field especially Diego Velazquez, Donatello and Raphael. Through these individual, Dali learnt about Flemish painting such as that of Van Eyck. The other painting that he owes to these people is the Dutch little masters painting. Another relationship can be seen with Leonardo da Vinci’s works and that of Dali. Da Vinci authored a writing dabbed “Treatise on Painting” where he says that “by throwing a sponge full of color at a wall it leaves a stain in which a fine landscape can be seen” ( Finkelstein & Dali 1930) . There are several works of Dali that reflects Da Vinci’s claims in the writings. These works were witnessed in the later stages of his painting career. Most of these works display effects of “shots” or are splashes of paintings. Dali was one of the student of Sigmund Freud. He has a relationship with during his youthful age. The relationship also formed some of his theoretical beliefs. He took a center stage on imaginations and dreams contrary to human thought. The stand was fostered by the relationship he had with Freud.
Although Dali was deeply involved in Surrealist movement, he was also engaged in Renaissance art. Dali held several dialogues with masters of Renaissance art masters. These dialogues gradually led to relationship with people such as Pablo Picasso and Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci was also a member of the Renaissance art. Although it was open that he was a member of Surrealist movement, he sometimes declared Renaissance art influence on his works indirectly. In one of his famous quotes the painter claims that “the secret of my influence has always been that it remained a secret”. In the quote he neither accepts that he is a staunch member of the surrealist movement neither does he deny that Renaissance art had an influence on his career. The masters in the movement formed the basis of some of his works.
Dali was also involved with Dadaism leader Max Emst. Although it is not clear how this relationship shaped up his professional career or personal life, some people believe that the chauvinistic and courageous nature of his content came from Emst ( Dalí 112) . The Dadaism leader exhibited the two characteristic in most of his artistic works. He therefore also had some influence on Dali. Pablo Picasso on the other hand was a Cubism artist. There are other artists that were also involved in other works of Dali. His career also took a turn on film making. Some of the film he was involved in depicted several elements of Surrealist movement. Through the help of Luis Daniel, a Spanish director that was also an artist, Dali produced two films. The films were Surrealistic films and included the Golden Age and the Andalusian Dog. He borrowed the ideas on the two films from the persistence of memory images. The images portrayed in the two films were highly suggestive images. He had a relationship with different artist such as Sigmund Freud and Leonardo da Vinci among other artists. These relationships greatly influenced his works and professional career. Dali died in 1989, his death came as blow in the artistic world. His paintings are still stored in many historical places and are a memory of his works.
Conclusion
Salvador Dali remains to be one of the most celebrated and outstanding painter of all times. His personal life is a revelation of the struggle he went through in a bid to shape up his career. Dali was a Surrealist artist. His works depicted several elements of Surrealist movement.
Work Cited
Dalí, Salvador. The secret life of Salvador Dali . Courier Corporation, 2013.
Finkelstein, Haim N., and Salvador Dalí. Salvador Dali's art and writing, 1927-1942: the metamorphoses of Narcissus . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Ross, Michael Elsohn, and Salvador Dalí. Salvador Dalí and the surrealists: their lives and ideas: 21 activities . Chicago Review Press, 2003.
