When other six year olds were busy being kids and getting scraped knees, Salvador Dali was creating his first masterpiece. By 1916 when he was 12 years old he had finished "Fiesta in Figueres", a delightful composition of a firework festival in his home town in Catalonia, Spain, near the French border. Painted in gouache in tones of blue, it is hard to believe when you are standing in front of it that it was painted at such a young age.
The collection at the St Petersburg gallery in Florida, is the world most comprehensive collection, with 96 oils, 100 watercolors and drawings, and 1,300 graphics, photographs, sculptures and objects d'art. It covers all of Dali's major themes, impressionist and cubist from his early work, and plenty of his surrealist art, for which he is probably best known.
What Influenced Salvador Dali
There were two events that shaped the artist he became. One was his discovery of Sigmund Freud's writings and the other was his association with a group of artists known as the Paris Surrealists.
The women in his life also influenced Dali greatly, the first being his mother, then his nursemaid, Lucia. His sister, Ann Maria, was often a model for him, but maybe his greatest love of all was his muse and wife Gala. So much so, that he sometimes signed his paintings, Gala Salvador Dali.
One of the paintings in the gallery from his classic period is, "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln". At first glance it is a painting of a nude woman looking out through a window to sea, but on moving away from it, about 66 feet, and squinting it becomes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. He painted this in 1976 after reading an article in Scientific American by Leon D Harmon, regarding the minimal quantity of information needed to recognise a face. By squinting it reduces the depth of field and the well known face of the president is seen.
Dali was a master of double meanings and symbolism. He believed that inner life and ambiguity was in all. One example of this is the many insects and other symbols in his paintings. To him daddy longlegs represented hope; gadflies meant invasion and cypress trees were death. He also used grasshoppers to mean terror, and ants to portray decay.
Dali In America
Salvador Dali loved America, although his homeland of Catalonia was always a source of inspiration to him. In escaping war torn Europe in the 1940s, he made quite a name for himself here. Not only did he have the opportunity to design pavilions for the World Fair in New York, he also worked on clothing designs for Coco Chanel, and collaborated with people like Walt Disney to stretch into filmmaking. All of which was good publicity for him and the sale of his art became based not just on his talent but also on his flamboyance and flair.
His influences were felt not only in the art world but also in fashion and architecture. Elsa Schiaparelli, a fashion designer in the 1930s, was greatly influenced by him, even putting some of his work in her shop window to attract customers. Edward James, a patron of the arts, collaborated with Dali to produce interiors, furnishings and interesting objects.
In the mid '50s he moved back to Spain, where he painted many works with a religious theme although he also continued to explore other avenues too. After the death of his beloved Gala in 1982, Dali's health began to fail, and he became depressed. He died in Figueres in 1989, leaving a worldwide legacy as a master surrealist who had influenced many.
Source:
- Salvador Dali Museum org., St Petersburg, Florida
 |
