Salvador Dali

I have to say "The Ship" is my favorite artwork by Dali. His artwork is open to interpretation. Its not something you just view and move on, but something you process and wonder about. It is provacative and varied with themes of time, religion and sexuality(among other things), an interesting mix. He was a maniac, but that is often associated with brilliance.

I went to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida....
I was struck by how much he accomplished
in his life, and by how his wife directed his career,
perhaps being the first of the marketers.

His early oil paintings on heavily woven hemp (flour
sacks) had exquisite coloration. His lobster telephone was fun.....He was an original, no doubt...........

I've always loved Dalí's works, even if the man was not likable.
At home, I have reproductions of Plage Avec Telefon (Beach with Telephone) and of La Ville Paranoiac-Critique (The Paranoical-Critical Village).

I also have three photos of little known paintings of his. Different human figures made of void, in a desertic landscape. Haunting.
I found them among papers as a child, and was inmediately fascinated. My father told me they were displayed by the company he worked for, in an event with advertisers or something. He kept the photos in a folder and, after his death, I took them and put them on nice frames.

Then came this thread and I told myself to see what those paintings are about. Went to several sites on the Catalan painter. Found a Russian one, with extensive reproduction of more than 1500 of Dali's works, and... WOW, my photos were there!
It happens that I have the whole trilogy:
Apparition of a Couple in the Desert; Apparition of a Woman and Suspended Architecture in the Desert; Flower in the Desert.
The originals were made by Dali ("Avida Dollars") for Shulton, to celebrate the launch of Dessert Flower perfume (my dad was sales manager for Mexico).
Thanks.

I could not retrieve the images, but this is the link to their page (and to the Russian website):

http://dali.karelia.ru/html/galleries/painting17.htm

I love Dalí's work too.

Since I don't know much about paintings, what first struck me was the surreal ambience and the 'prettyness' of colors on the paintings.

I currently own a calendar with 12 pictures of Dalí.

That's a great page, fbaezer.

He's a wonderful artist . Still, begs the question : "but do you think he'd still be as popular as he is if ( or even will known) he wasn't such an overzealous self promoter?"

Odd Socks, I believe it was his wife who was
the "overzealous self-promoter"...The tour
guide at the Dali museum described her as
having eyes that could penetrate a bank vault!

haha SHe could have been. Everybody always seems to criticise Gala, i wonder if she was really as bad as the art historians make her out.

Still, i disagree with you. He pulled all manner of publicity stunts ( himself) and caused controversy whereever he could. Andre Breton would have annoyed the **** out of me, and it's kind of cool that somebody flies so much against the in-group, but it still begs the question of whether we would have known of him . So many art critics around in his lifetime seemed to despise him and his refusal to paint in a modern manner. THe question isn't whether he was a talented artist, which he was, but whether he would have still been around long enough to get recognition once realism became accepted again.

I've always preferred Rene Magritte to Dali, anyhow. Although Dali had the superb technical skills, there is something so beautiful and subtle about Magritte's work that makes it a lot more comforting and charming than Dali( although I know Magritte, let alone Dali, never set out to be either comforting or charmng) . This comment is so off topic that i risk high jacking the thread, but, oh well, c'est la vie.

I dont know much about Dali's own self promotion,
but he did say that he measured his success by
the degree to which other artists despised him.

I agree with you about Magritte.

I got a pretty big print of this guy hanging up...I dig it.

Salvador (based on the photos I saw at the
St. Pete's museum) was the most beautiful young
man. It is a pity (to me) that he became such
a caricature.......

HE chose to, + it contributed to his success. I think it's better to be yourself than beautiful, anyhow. ( Don't mean to start fights here, lol, even though it might seem it)

Slappy, I love that painting.

I dont think the qualities are mutually
exclusive.....

I love Dali's chaotic compositions, they are very inspiring. I heard a story about Dali about two weeks ago. He supposedly had an older brother who died shortly after birth, and when salvador was born his parents thought that he was a reincarnation of their first son, so they spoiled him a whole bunch!
i thought that was sort of odd!

I heard he built a seperate house for his wife behind his.

Sounds like a smart fella.

pandatory, I heard the same story about his older brother, but I had been told that his parents criticized him in comparison with his brother. Then again, if the older Salvador died as early as in your version, there wouldn't be much to criticize.. In either case, it seems like that would account for some of the.. say.. abnormality.

I agree in preferring Magritte.. his surrealism is much more subtle. Where Dali has melting clocks, Magritte abuses the context of interposition. Much more enjoyable.

..and while he's not in the same category at all, I -love- Escher. The whimsy of some of his drawings (the city of "roll-ups", the tesselated alligators that crawl out of the page) is perfect.

-Kate

I like his drawings better than his paintings. The marker (or is it ink) series he did for Dante's Inferno is marvelous.

He's a great example of how turning yourself into an icon (through behavior, looks, and consistent art-making) can make and keep your a celebrity.

I agree with you Odd Socks, Dali's work is beautiful and haunting (and disturbing)... but it is more like a nightmare to me than the calmness of Magritte.

Love him. This is the print we have up in our living room.

"One Second Before Awakening From a Dream"