Salvador Dali & The Surrealists: The Argillet Collection | Page 6
Sa lv a d o r D al i
1904-1989
His name alone evokes unique emotional feelings unlike any other artist of the
Twentieth Century.
Today, Dali’s work is experiencing a resurgence. His individual style and subject
matter, which often blended art, literature, politics, and religion, continues to make
his work relevant. Art critics and historians are now reassessing Dali’s incredible
impact on not only the world of art, but as an important leader and innovator
of popular culture. There have been several major retrospectives of Dali’s work,
including one held at the prestigious Philadelphia Museum of Art. A cover story in
Art News commented that his work “is now being celebrated for being so far ahead
of its time it looks as though it could have been made yesterday.”
“I am Surrealism.”
—DALI
1
Dali was born in the northern province of Spain, Catalunya, also the birthplace of
his compatriots and colleagues Picasso and Miro. In 1929 he became a member of
the group of artists, writers, and intellectuals in Paris who called themselves the
Surrealists. His formidable talents, abilities, and personality quickly made him the
“star” of the group. He eventually split with the Surrealists in the mid-1930s, but
continued to exhibit with them throughout the decade. He and his wife, Gala, who
was his muse, model, and manager lived in New York City during the 1940s. During
the next fifty years of his life, Dali explored film, design, and fashion in addition to
painting and sculpting.
After fleeing to the United States, Dali addressed politics, challenged social
mores, and paraded his neuroses and obsessions in his work. Many of these issues
DETAIL: Golden Veal
consistently appear in Dali’s oeuvre. In an early autobiography, The Secret Life of
Salvador Dali, he acknowledged the profound influence his childhood and hometown
of Figueres had on the course of his career. Dali’s drawings and etchings fully explore
his long-standing obsession with sexuality, literature, intellect, and his wife. The later prints in the Argillet
Collection reveal the influence of a fully-formed artistic, emotional, and intellectual philosophy developed
over a lifetime.
Now, some twenty five years after his death, Dali is finally receiving the respect his work deserves.