SALVADOR DALI

             Dali is well known for his surrealist works and many con­sider him the most brilliant Surrealist of his time. But to un­derstand the enigma that is Salvador Dali, one must take a look back into his childhood, his family, and his inspirations.

         Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, Spain. Dali, being the only young male in a female-dominated household, was pam­pered a lot by his mother, grandmother, aunt, and nurse. All this attention was not enough for Dali, and he constantly sought ways to attract more. He was extremely naughty boy.

         By the age of 10, Dali began to show an interest in art. He produced his first painting. By the time, he was 15; he had already set up his own art exhibition.

         In 1921, a 17-year-old Salvador Dali entered the Madrid Fine Arts School, hoping to fuel his interest in Futurism and Cubism. However, Dali was suspended for a year after urging all students to rebel against the school’s authorities. In 1926, the school decided to expel Dali for similar reasons.

        In 1929, Salvador Dali developed an interest in Surrealism, and joined the movement. He began developing his method, which he eventually would name «Paranoic-critical» and des­cribe as a «spontaneous method of irrational knowledge».

          In 1929, Dali met Gala Eluard, with whom he eloped in 1932. She became his model, his agent, his inspiration, and eventually, his reason for living. She would be the only wo­man in his life for the remainder of his years.

         In the continuing years, Dali painted less. He began to read the ideas of Freud, and found new inspiration. He was fascinated with the state of semi-consciousness, the mental state between consciousness and unconsciousness. In this state, the mind is free from the restraints of logic or social regulations. Instead of analyzing this state of mind as Freud did, Dali simply wan­ted to explore it and find a way to portray it with his art.

          Perhaps because he grew tired of it, or perhaps to keep his own sanity, Dali stayed away from Surrealism and returned to the Classical form of art in 1936. He experimented with several types of classical art, including Classical Spanish, Clas­sical Italian.

         In the 1930’s, he took up a great interest in Hitler, and not Lenin, who was favoured by the other surrealists. This crea­ted a strain with his friends, and in 1939, Dali decided to move to the United States.

        In the United States he participated in the making of se­veral films. He explored religious themes in his art for a time, also began introducing erotic scenes into his works.

         Salvador Dali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1981. His beloved Gala died the next year. Dali’s life, it seemed, was falling apart around him. His reason for living had ceased to exist. The 77 year old Dali had, for the first time in his life, lost all inspiration for his art. He lost the desire to paint.

          In 1989, when Dali was 85 years old, his disease, which he was diagnosed with in 1981, had finally caught up with him, and the most brilliant surrealist of his time was dead. He was buried in a tomb below his Museum in his hometown of Figueras.

          His contributions to the art world can be seen in many mod­ern artists’ works and one may suspect that the influence of Salvador Dali will be present in many years to come.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is Salvador Dali well- known for?

2. What kind of boy was Salvador?

3. Why was Dali suspended from the Madrid Fine Arts School?

4. Which movement did Dali develop?

5. What was Gala Eluard in Dali’s life?

6. Which of Freud’s ideas was Salvador Dali fascinated with?

7. When did the painter return to the classical form of art?

8. Why did Dali decide to move to the United States?

9. Why did the artist lose his desire to paint at the age of 77?

10. Where can Dali’s contributions to the art world be seen?

VOCABULARY:

to consider — считать

brilliant — блестящий

enigma — загадка

inspiration — вдохновение

to pamper — баловать

extremely — крайне

naughty — шаловливый, озорной

to show an interest in — проявлять интерес к чему-либо

exhibition — выставка

suspend — временно отстранять

to urge — убеждать, подстрекать

to rebel — восставать

to expel — выгонять, исключать

to elope — сбежать

to fascinate — очаровывать

consciousness — сознательное

unconsciousness — бессознательное

restraint — запрет, ограничение

strain — напряжение

to cease — прекращать

tomb — могила

contribution — вклад

to suspect — подозревать

influence — влияние