Dali, Salvador, 1904-1989 (1904-1989)

Dates

• Existence: 1904-1989

Biography

Salvador Dalí i Domènech was born on May 11, 1904. Dalí began studying painting in 1920 at the Fine Arts School in Madrid. In 1922, he moved into the Residencia de Estudiantes and befriended some soon-to-be famous artists, including Louis Buñuel. Throughout the 1920s, Dalí exhibited works in Madrid and Barcelona while still in school. Dalí traveled to Paris in 1929 and was introduced to the Surrealists working in the city through Joan Miró. That same year, he collaborated with Buñuel on the surrealist film "Un chien andalou." The pair collaborated on a second film, "L'âge d'or," a year later. Dalí would come into his own as an artist during the 1930s, as well as become a celebrity. In 1934, Dalí entered a civil marriage Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, known as Gala, five years after their first meeting. Dalí's work began being exhibited outside of Europe in the early 1930s, helping disseminate his name in cultural circles. In 1935, Dalí began working with noted fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. That year, they produced a powder compact that resembled a rotary phone dial. Throughout the later-half of the 1930s, Schiaparelli and Dalí created some of the most infamous garments in fashion history: the Shoe Hat, the Drawer Suit, the Skeleton Dress, the Tear Dress, and the Lobster Dress. Between 1939 and 1944, Dalí produced multiple illustrations for Vogue magazine, three of which were used as the cover image. In 1940, Dalí and his wife relocated to the U.S.A. and remained there until 1948. While in the U.S., Dalí became interested in jewelry design. In 1945, Dalí collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on the film "Spellbound." After returning to Spain in 1948, Dalí's work began dealing more regularly with religious themes. Dalí continued to produce artworks throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. By this time, many museums had acquired his artworks and multiple large-scale exhibitions were put on. In 1969, Dalí purchased the Púbol Castle and redecorated it. After a growing, decade-long interest in optical science, Dalí debuted "Dali Lifting the Skin of the Mediterranean Sea to Show Gala the Birth of Venus," a hyper stereoscopic painting, in 1978 at the Guggenheim Museum. A year later, the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France appointed him an associate overseas member. Salvador Dalí died in Figueres on 23 January 1989.

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