About Salvador Dali

Salvador DaliSalvador Dali, 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. Salvador Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. Salvador Dali´s painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. Salvador Dali´s best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931. Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. Salvador Dali collaborated with Walt Disney on the unfinished Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was completed and released posthumously in 2003. Salvador Dali also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on the dream sequence from his 1945 film Spellbound.

Salvador Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."

Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Salvador Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved Salvador Dali´s art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life. (source: wikipedia)

Salvador Dali - photos and paintings

Salvador Dali - photos, paintings and an amazing song dedicated to the one who was the genius Salvador Dali

"Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man" by Salvador Dali


"Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man" by Salvador Dali (1943)

In this painting Salvador Dali gives us a large egg-shaped globe of the world out of which a man is struggling to "hatch". This "new man" is coming out of North America - the United States. There is blood running out of the crack in the egg and the new man's hand has England firmly in its grasp. In the foreground two figures are watching; one an adult the other a small child. The adult, of indeterminate sex, is drawing the child's attention by pointing at the new man being birthed. The child is standing as if afraid - both hiding behind and holding on to the adult's knees. The imagery here is fairly clear. America is emerging as the major force in the world. This new power is at the cost of some blood (World War II). The fate of England is in America's hands.

I'm not sure what significance can be drawn from the disproportionately large sizes of Africa and South America on the globe. The child - though much smaller than the adult - casts a shadow much larger than the adult's. I get the impression that Salvador Dali is saying, "This is what you will have to deal with." And in a tone that is not altogether reassuring.

"The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali
"The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali (1931)

La persistencia de la memoria (1931) or The Persistence of Memory is the most famous painting by artist Salvador Dalí. The painting has also been popularly known as "Soft Watches", "Droopy Watches", "The Persistence of Time", or "Melting Clocks".

"The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali has been owned by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City since 1934. It was, however, on display at the Salvador Dalí Museum, in St. Petersburg, Florida, (1 February–1 June 2008). "The Persistence of Memory" returned to the Museum of Modern Art in June 2008 as part of the exhibition Dalí and Film, on view from 29 June – 15 September 2008.

"The Face of War" by Salvador Dali

The Face of War by Salvador Dali
"The Face of War" by Salvador Dali (1940 - 41)

Salvador Dali is obsessed with death, wether it appears as the face of war or, more seductively, in the shape of female bodies. The props he designed for the film Moontide were so horrifying that they were rejected because the technician refused to build them.

Salvador Dali Quotes

"Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvador Dalí - and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things this Salvador Dalí is going to accomplish today?" Salvador Dali

"At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since." Salvador Dali

"Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad." Salvador Dali

"I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait." Salvador Dali

"I have Dalínian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous." Salvador Dali

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." Salvador Dali

"In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob." Salvador Dali

"Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality." Salvador Dali

"So little of what could happen does happen." Salvador Dali

"The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant." Salvador Dali