“There is only one difference between a madman and me.
I am not mad.” —Salvador Dali
Salvador's Life
Dali was the son of notary and on May 11,1904 was given the name of his brother who died at 21 months. (Nine months and ten days before Dali’s birth) He was even given the exact same clothes that were supposed to be his dead brother’s, and his toys to remind Dali that he would never replace him. Because of this, Dali came to believe that he was the reincarnation of his lost sibling. From the time he was a toddler however, he was sketching out drawings and had his first painting exhibition at the age of 14 in the municipal of his hometown of Figeuras. Six months later, there was another exhibit. This time, bringing great praise and recognition to his artistic talent. Then his first tragedy struck at the age of 16 when his mother died. She was one of the few who adored and indulged him. Since his dad was already involved with his mother’s sister, who lived with the family, they later married. Dali never accepted the situation.
Dali was expelled from his school. After he was, his dad allowed him to finally enroll in the Madrid School of Fine Arts in 1922. He was a model student at first until he regarded his contemporaries, people of the same age, and tutors as inferiors. He was almost crippled by his shyness and fears. He was, simply, scared of everything. He couldn’t cross the street by himself and couldn’t take public transportation. He could not even buy himself a new pair of shoes because he was afraid of exposing his feet. He even carried talismans to “ward off evil spirits in the world”. He was expelled twice from his art academy. The first was in 1924 when he was suspected of rousing his fellow students to revolt, and again a year later for refusing to take one of his exams. He never received his diploma.
Between 1929 and 1939, Dali produced some of his legendary pieces. When he was 32, his picture appeared on the cover of “Time” magazine in 1936. Dali’s defining image became his long, thin waxed mustache shaped into weird ways. After 1940, he lived in the U.S. traveling around the world with a jet-set crowd and in Spain in his later years. With his growing interest in history, religion, and science, he began incorporating them into his paintings. His flair for crazy antics caused him to get an international reputation as “a talented, witty showman whose often outrageous statements could enchant and sometimes offend his audience”.
Dali suffered from severe hallucinations and hysteria in his young adult life because he could not find a suitable partner to act out his every need. This was until 1929 when he met Gala. She was Russian woman who left her country at the beginning of the Revolution. In 1934 Dali married Gala. This marriage lasted 47 years. She was said to be “a conniving, abusive and money hungry, who eventually ruined Dali's career”. She appeared in many of Dali’s later works.
At the age of 87, Gala died and Dali went to pieces. He stopped eating, became a recluse, and even moved into her house. Determined to die, he dwindled to 98 pounds, and was badly burned when his bed caught on fire. He was on the verge of insanity when he claimed that he couldn’t stand up or swallow. He suffered from severe malnutrition, and developed Parkinson’s disease. For the last eight years of his life, he suffered from mental deterioration, also similar to Alzheimer’s disease. In 1984, when there was a worldwide fuss over is 80th birthday he rebounded briefly. The museum Teatro Museo Dali, the same transformed theater where his first exhibit at age 14 was held, was his last passion in life before he died on January 23, 1989 at 10:15 AM in his hometown of Figueras, Spain from heart failure.
Dali was expelled from his school. After he was, his dad allowed him to finally enroll in the Madrid School of Fine Arts in 1922. He was a model student at first until he regarded his contemporaries, people of the same age, and tutors as inferiors. He was almost crippled by his shyness and fears. He was, simply, scared of everything. He couldn’t cross the street by himself and couldn’t take public transportation. He could not even buy himself a new pair of shoes because he was afraid of exposing his feet. He even carried talismans to “ward off evil spirits in the world”. He was expelled twice from his art academy. The first was in 1924 when he was suspected of rousing his fellow students to revolt, and again a year later for refusing to take one of his exams. He never received his diploma.
Between 1929 and 1939, Dali produced some of his legendary pieces. When he was 32, his picture appeared on the cover of “Time” magazine in 1936. Dali’s defining image became his long, thin waxed mustache shaped into weird ways. After 1940, he lived in the U.S. traveling around the world with a jet-set crowd and in Spain in his later years. With his growing interest in history, religion, and science, he began incorporating them into his paintings. His flair for crazy antics caused him to get an international reputation as “a talented, witty showman whose often outrageous statements could enchant and sometimes offend his audience”.
Dali suffered from severe hallucinations and hysteria in his young adult life because he could not find a suitable partner to act out his every need. This was until 1929 when he met Gala. She was Russian woman who left her country at the beginning of the Revolution. In 1934 Dali married Gala. This marriage lasted 47 years. She was said to be “a conniving, abusive and money hungry, who eventually ruined Dali's career”. She appeared in many of Dali’s later works.
At the age of 87, Gala died and Dali went to pieces. He stopped eating, became a recluse, and even moved into her house. Determined to die, he dwindled to 98 pounds, and was badly burned when his bed caught on fire. He was on the verge of insanity when he claimed that he couldn’t stand up or swallow. He suffered from severe malnutrition, and developed Parkinson’s disease. For the last eight years of his life, he suffered from mental deterioration, also similar to Alzheimer’s disease. In 1984, when there was a worldwide fuss over is 80th birthday he rebounded briefly. The museum Teatro Museo Dali, the same transformed theater where his first exhibit at age 14 was held, was his last passion in life before he died on January 23, 1989 at 10:15 AM in his hometown of Figueras, Spain from heart failure.