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Salvador Dali Facts

Salvador Dali Facts
Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist artist most famous for his painting The Persistence of Memory which depicts melting pocket watches. He was born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech on May 11th, 1904, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, to Felipa Domenech Ferrés, and Salvador Dalí i Cusí, a notary and lawyer. Salvador's parents were supportive of his artistic passion, which he developed as a child. His first public exhibit was held in Figueres, Spain, in 1919. By the late 1920s Salvador Dali was socializing with other famous painters such as Pablo Picasso, and was introduced to surrealism. He became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and continued to paint until 1980 when a motor disorder forced him to retire.
Interesting Salvador Dali Facts:
Salvador Dali had an older brother that died before he was born. His name was also Salvador and his parents took him to his grave when he was five and told him that he was the reincarnation of his brother.
Salvador Dali's parents built him an art studio as a child, even before he went to art school.
Salvador Dali's first private exhibit was held in his home in 1917. It was a charcoal drawing exhibit organized by his father.
Salvador's mother died when he was 16, of breast cancer. He was devastated by the loss.
While attending the School of Fine Arts in Madrid Salvador Dali was suspended for criticizing his teachers and later expelled because he said that none of the teachers were competent enough to test him.
In the 1920s Salvador Dali experimented with cubism, futurism, impressionism, and surrealism.
In 1929 Salvador Dali began his surrealist period.
Salvador Dali met Elena Dmitrievna Diakonova in 1929. She divorced her writer husband and married Salvador in 1934. She managed much of his business affairs for many years.
In 1931 Salvador Dali painted The Persistence of Memory. It would become his most famous work. It is also referred to as Soft Watches.
In 1934 Salvador Dali was expelled from the Surrealist Movement over differences in opinion about the approaching World War II.
Salvador Dali and his wife moved the U.S. during WW2 and his first exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC took place in 1941.
When WW2 ended Dali returned to Paris.
Some images appear frequently in Dali's work including locusts, snails, ants, eggs, and melting clocks or watches.
During his career Salvador Dali created more than 1500 paintings.
Salvador Dali created more than art. He wrote books, created short films, drawings, sculptures, and other works of art and literature.
Salvador often offered to pay for the check at restaurants with large groups of friends. He would sign the check but then doodle on the back. He knew that the check would not be cashed because his doodle was more valuable.
Salvador Dali was infatuated with Hitler and often painted him.
Salvador Dali died in 1988 at the age of 84, due to heart failure.
There are museums and galleries dedicated to Salvador Dali on Spain, U.S., Italy, Germany, and Belgium.


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