Salvador DalĂ (1904-1989).
Spanish Surrealist artist
DalĂ was a skilled artist draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his 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, and is one of the most recognisable Surrealist paintings. DalĂ's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, at times in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.
DalĂ was highly imaginative, and also enjoyed indulging in unusual and grandiose behavior. To the dismay of those who held his work in high regard, and to the irritation of his critics, his eccentric manner and attention-grabbing public actions sometimes drew more attention than his artwork.
It was not until the late 1920s that two events brought about the development of his mature artistic style: his discovery of Sigmund Freudâs writings on the erotic significance of subconscious imagery and his affiliation with the Paris Surrealists, a group of artists and writers who sought to establish the âgreater realityâ of the human subconscious over reason. To bring up images from his subconscious mind, DalĂ began to induce hallucinatory states in himself by a process he described as âparanoiac critical.â
In the late 1930s DalĂ switched to painting in a more-academic style under the influence of the Renaissance painter Raphael. His ambivalent political views during the rise of fascism alienated his Surrealist colleagues, and he was eventually expelled from the group. Thereafter, he spent much of his time designing theatre sets, interiors of fashionable shops, and jewelry as well as exhibiting his genius for flamboyant self-promotional stunts in the United States. In the period from 1950 to 1970, DalĂ painted many works with religious themes, though he continued to explore erotic subjects.
In 1980 at age 76, DalĂ'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.
After Gala's death, DalĂ lost much of his will to live. He deliberately dehydrated himself, possibly as a suicide attempt.
He died of heart failure at age 84.
The Persistence of Memory
Swans Reflecting Elephants
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans
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