SALVADOR DOMINGO FELIPE JACINTO DALI I DOMENECH, MARQUES DE DALI DE PUBOL, KNOWN AS SALVADOR DALI, WAS BORN ON MAY 11 1904, IN FIGUERES, CATALONIA, SPAIN. HE WAS A FAMOUS SPANISH SURREALIST PAINTER.
DALI AND FAMILY
WHEN HE WAS 5, DALI WAS TOLD THAT HE WAS HIS DEAD BROTHER'S REINCARNATION, A CONCEPT HE CAME TO BELIEVE. IMAGES OF HIM WOULD APPEAR IN HIS PAINTINGS THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE. DALI ATTENDED DRAWING SCHOOL AND HAD HIS FIRST PUBLIC EXHIBITION AT FIGUERES' MUNICIPAL THEATRE IN 1919. WHEN HE WAS ONLY 16 YEARS OLD,, IN 1921, HIS MOTHER DIED OF BREAST CANCER AND HIS FATHER MARRIED HIS DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER. HOWEVER, DALI DIDN'T RESENT THE MARRIAGE, AS HE HAD A GREAT RESPECT FOR HIS AUNT.
IN 1922, DALI MOVED IN MADRID'S STUDENT RESIDENCE AND STUDIED AT THE REAL ACADEMIA DE BELLAS ARTES DE SAN FERNANDO, WHERE HE ALREADY DREW ATTENTION ON HIS ECCENTRISM. AT THE RESIDENCIA, HE EXPERIMENTED WITH CUBISM. IN 1924, HE ILLUSTRATED A BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME, A PUBLICATION OF THE CATALAN POEM 'THE WITCHES OF LLERS' BY HIS FRIEND CARLES FAGES DE CLIMENT. HE EVENTUALLY EXPERIMENTED WITH DADA AS WELL, WHICH INFLUENCED ALL HIS WORKS. DALI WAS EXPELLED FROM THE ACADEMY IN 1926, SHORTLY BEFORE HIS FINAL EXAMS, ACCUSED OF STARTING UNNRESTS. HE PAINTED 'THE BASKET OF BREAD' THAT SAME YEAR, AND DURING A VISIT TO PARIS, MET PABLO PICASSO, WHO INFLUENCED SOME OF HIS WORKS.
IN 1929, DALI COLLABORATED WITH SURREALIST FILM DIRECTOR LUIS BRUNEL ON THE FAMOUS SHOT FILM 'UN CHIEN ANDALOU'. THAT SAME YEAR, HE MET HIS LIFELONG PARTNER, MODEL AND EVENTUALLY WIFE, GALA, BORN ELENA IVANOVA DIAKONOVA. HE JOINED THE SURREALIST GROUP OF THE MONTPARNASSE QUARTER IN PARIS. IN 1931, DALI PAINTED 'THE PERSISTANCE OF MEMORY', ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS WORKS. IN 1938, HE MET SIGMUND FREUD, WHO'S STUDIES WOULD BECOME SOME OF HIS BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS.
Gala and Dali
DURING WWll, DALI AND GALA RETREATED TO THE UNITED STATES, WHERE HE WORKED IN A VARIETY OF MEADIA, LIKE JEWELRY, CLOTHES, FURNITURE, STAGES AND RETAIL STORE DISPLAYS DESIGN ENVIRONMENTS.
IN 1980, AT AGE 76, DALI'S HEALTH STARTED DETERIORATING. HIS RIGHT HAND TREMBLED TERRIBLY, AND HIS NEAR-SENILE WIFE ALLEGEDLY WAS DOSING HIM WITH A COCKTAIL OF UNPRESCRIBED MEDICINE THAT DAMAGED HIS BRAIN, CAUSING AN END TO HIS ARTISTIC CAPACITIES. GALA DIED IN 1982, WHICH CAUSED DALI LOSS OF WILL TO LIVE. HE DELIBERATELY DEHYDRATED HIMSELF, AS A FORM OF SUICIDE ATTEMPT. HE PAINTED HIS LAST PAINTING IN 1983, 'THE SWALLOW'S TAIL'. ON THE MORNING OF 23 JANUARY 1989, WHILE LISTENING TO HIS FAVORITE RECORD OF 'TRISTAN AND ISOLDE', DALI DIED OF HEART FAILURE AT FIGUERES, SPAIN, AT AGE 84.