“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”

• Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí is perhaps the most iconic Surrealist and one of the most recognized faces in 20th century art. His infamous mustache and public spectacles, whether it be his own productions in his daily life, like parading around with his pet ocelot Babou, or his appearances on television shows like Johnny Carson or The Name’s The Same, ensured that he garnered the attention he so desired to keep him ever in the public eye. Dalí’s techniques and approach to art continues to influence artists around the world. His pieces are highly sought after by both private collectors and institutions internationally.
Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain on May 11, 1904. Young Salvador was recognized as eccentric and precocious from the start. His lawyer father did not tolerate his more rebellious behavior, and the pair experienced tension until his father’s passing. Dalí produced sophisticated drawings early on that persuaded his parents, who encouraged his artist talent, to enroll him at the drawing school Colegio de Hermanos Maristas and the Instituto in Figueres in 1916.
Dalí was not a serious student; he instead would daydream during class and preferred to wear odd clothing and long hair as young as 12 years old. After his first year at art school, Dalí became acquainted with local artist, Ramon Pichot, while vacationing with his family in Cadaques. The following year, his father organized an exhibition of Salvador's charcoal drawings in the family home. In 1919, at age 15, Dalí held his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theatre of Figueres.
Tragedy struck in 1921 when Dalí’s mother, Felipa, died from breast cancer. Dalí, at the young age of 16, was wrought with devastation. The following year, he enrolled at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. He boarded at the student residence, where he contributed eccentricity unlike any other. During this phase of life, he was influenced by Metaphysics and Cubism while also admiring classical painters such as Raphael, Bronzino, and Diego Velázquez, who inspired his infamous curled mustache. He touched on avant-garde art movements like the post-World War I anti-establishment movement, as well as Dadaism, which influenced his work throughout his career.
Drama ensued in 1923 when Dalí allegedly began a riot among students over professorship and criticizing instructors. That same year, he was arrested and briefly imprisoned in Gerona for allegedly supporting the Separatist movement, though Dalí was actually apolitical at the time. He returned to the academy in 1926 but was then permanently expelled for stating no member of staff was competent to grade his work. After being expelled, Dalí made trips to Paris where he met painters and intellectuals, among them Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Paul Éluard. Between 1926 and 1929, Dalí’s works displayed Picasso’s influence. Dalí experimented with Impressionism, Futurism, and Cubism involving three general themes of man’s universe, sexual symbolism, and ideographic imagery. It was this experimentation and his new influences that led to his first Surrealistic period in 1929. His major contribution to surrealism was the “paranoiac-critical method” inspired by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. In other words, Dalí would exercise his subconscious to enhance his creativity through dreams and thoughts. This allowed mental manipulation of reality to his liking and was not only represented in his art but became a way of life for him.
In 1929, Dalí met Elena Dmitrievna Diakonova who became his muse and inspiration – as well as his wife. At the time, Elena, also known as Gala, was the wife of Surrealist writer Paul Éluard. Gala soon left Éluard for Dalí, and the couple was married in a civil ceremony in 1934. Gala took care of Dalí’s legal and financial matters, negotiating contracts with dealers and exhibition promoters, as Dali was incapable of dealing with the business side of being an artist. By the 1930s, Dalí was a major figure of the Surrealist movement, creating arguably his best Surrealist work The Persistence of Memory (1931). During this time, Dalí clashed with other members of the Surrealist movement, namely the movement’s leader André Breton. It was his feud with Breton, as well as his failure to take a stance against Spanish militant Francisco Franco, that led to his expulsion from the group. Many Surrealists were aghast at his public antics, believing that his persona and eccentricity had taken priority over his actual work. Despite his expulsion, he continued to participate in international Surrealist exhibitions into the 1940s. He was unbothered by the feuds, as his mind continually expanded into new subjects.
Dalí and Gala moved to the United States during World War II, bringing pivotal growth to his career. The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art located in New York hosted his own retrospective in 1941, and he wrote his autobiography titled The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí in 1942. It is also noted that he began to venture into his classical period during this time.
From 1960 to 1974, Dalí used the majority of his time to create the Teatro-Museo Dalí in Figueres. This building was formerly known as the Municipal Theatre of Figueres, which housed Dalí’s first public exhibition at 14 years old. Several works were created solely for the museum and remain there on permanent display. In 1974, Dalí dissolved his business relationship with his manager, resulting in the loss of much of his wealth. Two wealthy American art collectors who had known Dalí since 1942 set up an organization and foundation to help boost the artist's finances. The organization also established the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In 1980, Dalí suffered a motor disorder that affected his hands and forced him to resign from his painting career, as he was unable to even hold a paintbrush. He suffered further after the passing of his beloved wife and muse, Gala, in 1982. The loss of both his method of self-expression and his life companion caused a spiraling depression that sent Dalí fleeing to Pubol, the castle he had designed for Gala. It is speculated whether he desired to hide away from the public, or to die in the castle. Dalí passed away in 1989 due to heart failure at age 84 in Figueres. His funeral and burial was held at the Teatro-Museo.
Dali’s pure, raw expression derived from his subconscious demonstrates his genius. The portrayal of his incredible imagination through his work allowed others to access the mind and realm of Salvador Dalí. As an artist, Dalí was not limited to a particular style or media. The full body of his work, from early impressionist paintings to his transitional surrealist works, and the later transformation into his classical period, reveals a constantly growing and evolving artist. Dalí worked in all media, leaving behind a wealth of oils, watercolors, drawings, graphics, sculptures, films, photographs, performance pieces, jewels and objects of all descriptions. Equally important, he left for posterity the permission to explore all aspects of one’s own life and to give them artistic expression. Whether working from pure inspiration or on a commissioned illustration, Dali’s matchless insight and symbolic complexity are apparent. Above all, Dalí was a superb draftsman. His excellence as a creative artist will always set a standard for the art of the twentieth century.