He had a twisted childhood that was a result of his anger.
Family sent him to live with Pitchot another painter who influences his work.
Shy boy who was be friended by "popular" energetic kids who saw greatness in his paintings.
He eventually gave into their praises and became a cockybastard.
Pushed people away with his attitude, people hated him and praised his work only feeding into his ego.
He wanted to be rich and famous and loved and praised by all, he literally pushed his way to the top.
Early work:
Really a timid akward child at heart, his inner thought and feeling are apparent in his work.
Series of images that repeat themselves and why:
(note that the majority of these are self protraits)
Cherries - this is from the eating of a bowl of cherries at his friend's bedside.
Crutches and melons - from the fantasising in the shed.
Food - This comes from Dali's childhood urge to be a cook. "Cooking is very close to painting, when you are making a dish you add a little of this and a little of that. It's like mixing paints".
Eggs- from his intra-uterine images
This is not a painting but gouache, ink and collage... he contributed to other forms of at as well. Here he uses the reoccuring images of ants in his 1929 movie "Un Chies Andalou"
4:00
(at the movie premiere he mat his future wife) (Max Ernst wife)
As well this next video was started in 1945 and not completed until 2003 58years later. It is the result of Dali colaborating with anoter unlikely and very well known artist.
3:50
It is very easy to hate Salvador Dali the man, he was arrogant and placed himself on a pedistal abover everyone else. Here he talks about getting kicked out of college:
3:35
According to him he is at par with Einstein and Picasso.
Interview with Salvador Dali
1:00
He was an arrogant prick who put his signature on several thousand empty papers which he sold to an art dealer to be printed later and peddled as “hand-signed”.
"The two greatest strokes of luck that can happen to a painter are (1) to be Spanish, (2) to be called Dali"
~Salvador Dali
He had his hand in everything, he would do things just to get a rise out of people. He wanted to take the normal and make it surreal. He wanted to take everything that everyone knew and loved and turn it around to make you offended and question your own beliefs and why you believe them.
"People love mystery, and that is why they love my paintings" ~Salvador Dali 1980
He also took on the world of photography...
Religious painting...
Even inserting Gala his wife into some of them
But it was all a cover to the shy boy inside just wanting to be accepted and praised by those around him.
Salvador Dalhi put on a show most of his life.
"Our lives are elaborate deceptions" ~Salvador Dalhi
Always said he felt strongest in bed. Because in bed you can relax and be yourself.
"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing" ~Salvador Dali
Letters to Lorca
References:
thedali.org
youtube.com
Descharnes, Robert, and Gilles Néret. Salvador Dalí: 1904-1989. The paintings. Taschen America Llc, 2007. Print.
Dali, Salvador. Diary of a Genius. 2007. Print.
