Dali, Salvador ___ 1904-1989 ___ Spanish ___ painter

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Dalí was born in Figueres, northeast Spain, the son of a well-known notary. He showed artistic talent from an early age, and went to study at the Royal Academy in Madrid, although he was expelled twice and never took his final exams. However, he did become friends with the great Spanish dramatist and poet, Federico García Lorca, and the film-maker Luis Buñuel, with whom he collaborated on several avant-garde projects. In 1928, he moved to Paris where he met Picasso and Miro, and, in particular, Andre Breton, with whom he formed a group of surrealists. Some of his most famous surrealist works date from this period - 'The Spectre of Sex Appeal' and 'The Persistence of Memory' for example. Also in Paris, in 1929, he met Helena Diakonova, known as Gala, a Russian immigrant who would become his model, partner and business manager. During the Second World War, Dalí and Gala lived in the US, with Dalí not only painting but contributing to other artistic fields, such as cinema, theatre and ballet. He became something of a darling in high society, and famous men and women commissioned him to paint their portraits. While in the US, he wrote 'The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí'. In 1948, the couple returned to Europe, spending time either in their residence in Lligat, Spain, or in Paris. In the post war period, Dali became more interested in history and science and these subjects formed the themes of many of his later works such as 'Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus'. During the 1970s, he created and inaugurated the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, which houses a large collection of his works. The work entitled 'Diary of a Genius' is, in essence, a second volume of Dalí's autobiography.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1952-1963 ___ love/sex self art creativity psychology

WEB TEXT LINKS
a few pages
about
one small quote

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
Salvador Dali Foundation - possibly

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
Diary of a Genius
 

November 2005, September 2008
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.