| In his later years Salvador Dali was more famous for his eccentricities than his painting. His most productive years were in the 1920's and 1930's. That is when he painted most of his best known work under the influence of Surrealism. He was born in Figueras in northeast Spain in 1904 and died in 1989. He was a sensitive, excitable and precocious child that expressed an early interest in painting and drawing. His first oil painting was at age 8. He painted in radically different styles ranging from Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Purism, to traditional realism. Dali's first one-man exhibition was in Barcelona in 1925. By 1936 he was internationally known and featured on the cover of TIME. During his time in America (1940-48) he spent his time writing, designing jewelry, collaborating on a perfume, painting society portraits and working on the dream sequence in an Alfred Hitchcock film. After his return to Spain in 1955 he drew inspiration from science. He was inspired by optical theory, discovery of DNA, holography and stereoscopy. Although one of the most famous 20th century artist his status as an artist remains controversial. I am not versed in "art" at all but I find his work intriguing. To be able to envision something and then have the ability to give it dimension fascinates me. |
