Yang Sin

11/11/16

Salvador Dali
The Persistence of Memory, one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. Its
memorable and once you see it the picture is engraved in your head. People know of the Art
piece but do people know the man behind the art? Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dal i
Domnech, Marqus de Dal de Pubol or just Salvador Dali was Born on May 11, 1904 in
Figueres, Spain. He had an older brother also named Salvador who unfortunately died 9 months
earlier from gastroenteritis, his father was named Salvador Dali i Cusi who was a strict
disciplinarian and his mother was Felipa Domenech Ferres who encouraged him to continue with
art.
Dali throughout his life actually did attend Drawing school as his parents saw potential
within his artistry. It wasn't until 1916 when Salvador was about twelve years old that he
discovered modern art when him and his family went to Cadaques with the family of Ramon
Pichot who was an artist and became a mentor to the young Salvador Dali. then in 1919 Dali had
his first public exhibition.
In 1921 however, his mother died of Breast cancer her loss was hard for Dali as she was
the one that continued to push him the most to become a real artist and truly loved him. In 1922
Dali began to study at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, which was back then
a fine arts school. There he experimented with Cubism until his suspension in 1926, he was
accused of starting an unrest. However by then his artistry had already grown to exponential
levels and he was able to draw expertly. For example he drew his piece the basket of bread which
was more conservative piece nonetheless showed his growth.

Afterwards the young Salvador Dali met one of his idols the famous Pablo Picasso who
he met through Joan Miro through these two artists, Dalis art style would be influenced heavily
and become finalized. By 1929 Dali had started delving much more deeply into surrealism for
example that year he worked with a surrealist film director in making a film. But that same year
he met his future wife Gala who was still married to someone else at that point. That same year
as well Dali joined a Surrealist group that idolized Dali for his ideas with surrealism. While
things seemed well for Dali relations with his father were anything but good.
Dalis relationship with his father was deteriorating to an extremely low point for various
of reasons. For example his father didn't approve of his relationship with Gala and his
membership with the surrealist group. It wasn't until Dali talked about spitting on his mother's
portrait that Dalis father decided to kick him out from his family home and told Dali he was to
disown him. Faced with no other choice Dali decided to rent and eventually buy a new home and
expand on it with Gala. eventually however, Dali's father relented and accepted Gala as Dalis
companion in life.
In 1931, Dali painted one of his most famous and influential paintings and one of the
most famous altogether within the art community and possibly the world. He painted the
Persistence of Time, a surreal piece with melted watches spread across a barren wasteland. The
painting was not just done because Dali thought it would look weird and be fun to do he wanted
a deeper meaning to it. Some theorists believe Dali's melting clocks may symbolize Albert
Einstein's groundbreaking Theory of Relativity(Shabi). Which states that Time is not fixed and
linear like we think it is, that it's actually complex and relative.
In 1934 after years of living with each other Dali and Gala finally married each other
until they again remarried in an actual church in 1958. Over the years of their marriage Dali

would use her as inspirations for new pieces and she would assist him in business dealings and
the like. She would be the main money manager would be the main reason Dali and her could
afford their lifestyle.
In 1934 the same year as his marriage he was finally introduced to the United States of
America where he had his pieces in a new exhibition. He became an instant hit through that
exhibition. Dali would continue to grow in fame with him continuing to paint, and with him
trying his hand at short films much more as well. He became so famous that he even was
featured on the cover of time magazine in 1936. However despite all his fame his relations with
his surrealist group were strained until he was expelled from the group formally.
In 1939 however things started changing not because of him or his lifestyle however, it
was because of World War II. the war in Europe began and as it tore up all of europe Dali and his
wife decided to flee the country in 1940. In his years following Dali began to work on other
things not just painting related but in all things art including media. He worked on several films
and published an autobiography titled the secret life of Salvador Dali in 1942. Oddly enough in
1947 it was claimed that an italian friar performed an exorcism on him.
In 1948 in the years after World War II Dali and his wife moved back to their home
where he would stay there for the next three decades. Later in his life he would not only continue
with his art career but also would continue to delve into his media and other arts
experimentations. He would try out other types of art such as bulletism or pointillism and began
experimenting with holography as an art form. He would now however employ more math and
science into his art with geography and geometry and the like. He also would grow more into his
religion and have his work be more influenced by his religion.

However, the rise of nuclear science and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also
affected his paintings. He began to work on more paintings involving his beliefs in religion with
the cold science of Nuclear Physics with pieces like the madonna of port ligant being
influenced by them. Dali continued to work on paintings with the focus of nuclear physics while
ramping up his hijinks and being ridiculous. He wrote more books as well and starred in
commercials as well.
Dali began however to retreat to a castle he bought in 1968. In 1971 he would go there
for weeks upon weeks without end. Sadly in 1980 his art career ended when it was revealed his
nervous system was damaged heavily and he could not draw because of a parkinson's like
disease which was caused by his wife with unprescribed medicine given to him. Another
breaking point came for him when his wife Gala died on June 10th 1982. With her death Dali
lost his will to live. He attempted suicide after her death but was unsuccessful, however he did
complete the swallow's tale which was his final painting. The following year he possibly
attempted suicide again but by fire which also failed.
Before his death, Dali gave the king of spain his final painting. The drawing titled the
Head of Europa was his final painting. Finally on January 23, 1989 Salvador Dali died, listening
to his favorite record. He was 84 when he died and will always be remembered for being an
amazing artist and for his insane antics with publicity. Along with his mustache.
Salvador Dali is a monumental figure in modern painting, his work with surrealism is in
my opinion unmatched and he was an extremely incredible entertainer as well with his antics in
publicity matching up to that legacy. His work is insane but not without meaning shapeless but
not without form. First impressions of his work for me where initially confusing as all i saw was
just insanity. A man who had great ideas with his drawings but had no idea on just how to

materialize them so he just did whatever the hell he wanted and hoped it turned out great.
However, when you read these images and read about his life you find out so much backstory to
it. You see the meanings he attempted to instill with all of his paintings and realized he did know
what he was doing. He just didn't want people finding it out too quickly as he wanted to have
some fun with it. This was an artist that enjoyed his work one that shows you can do the thing
you love but still love it to the ends of the earth.
Salvador Dali is an inspiration, while i cannot match up to the levels of brilliance he
reached in his career I at least want to carry myself and my career with the same amount of
passion and pride he had with his work. He loved his job and his passionate paintings and work
showed it. Otherwise he would of painting regular paintings with easy to notice meanings but
that would not be a salvador dali painting. The Persistence of Time sums up his artistry
excellently. Its insane and to a first time view it's extremely overwhelming. You dont know what
youre looking at but it intrigues you it's insane. But its true self isn't with without form it's a
beautiful piece with a meaning that ties into the science of our world one trying to tell the world
how Salvador Dali things the world or time works. Everyone of Dalis paintings have a meaning
behind it, be it time, or nuclear physics or even DNA. Dali realized you cannot have Art without
the sciences and knew the two went hand in hand with each other never seperate always together.

Works Cited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD
http://www.biography.com/people/salvador-dal-40389
http://www.salvadordali.com/
http://www.authenticsociety.com/about/ThePersistenceOfMemory_Dali

Shabi, K. "Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks." Salvador
Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks. Legomenon, 29 May 2013. Web.
30 Oct. 2016.