Salvador Dali: Art, Life, Influence

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquess of Dalí of Púbol, 11 May 1904 – 23 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work.

       

Born in Figueres, Catalonia,  Dalí received his formal education in fine arts in Madrid. Influenced by Impressionism and the Renaissance masters from a young age, he became increasingly attracted to Cubism and avant-garde movements. He moved closer to Surrealism in the late 1920s and joined the Surrealist group in 1929, soon becoming one of its leading exponents. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory,  was completed in August 1931, and is one of the most famous Surrealist paintings. Dalí lived in France throughout the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) before leaving for the United States in 1940 where he achieved commercial success. He returned to Spain in 1948 where he announced his return to the Catholic faith and developed his "nuclear mysticism" style, based on his interest in classicism, mysticism, and recent scientific developments

       

There are two major museums devoted to Salvador Dalí's work: the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain, and the Salvador Dali Museum  in St. Petersburg, Florida. Dalí's artistic repertoire included painting, graphic arts, film, sculpture, design and photography, at times in collaboration with other artists. He also wrote fiction, poetry, autobiography, essays and criticism. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science and his closest personal relationships. To the dismay of those who held his work in high regard, and to the irritation of his critics, his eccentric and ostentatious public behavior often drew more attention than his artwork. His public support for the Francoist regime, his commercial activities and the quality and authenticity of some of his late works have also been controversial. His life and work were an important influence on other Surrealists, pop art,  and contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hurst. 

        

   

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Item Description:

This is an original etching print made by Salvador Dalí in 1968. The print renders a portrait of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid/ El Campeador in a sunny day. This work of art is a clear example of Dalí‘s genius style using playful traces to give life to this character and using different line thicknesses to differentiate the background from the foreground. The print is signed by the artist on the plate.

 

El Cid was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. He is the hero of the Castilian epic poem, Poema (or Cantar) de mío Cid. The Poema is not an historical document, but rather a literary work inspired by Rodrigo’s life during his second exile and his relationship with his king, Alfonso VI. To this day, El Cid remains a Spanish popular folk-hero and national icon, with his life and deeds remembered in plays, films, folktales, songs, and video games.

 

Note: as seen in the photograph, this print was authenticated and warrantied by the Société de Vérification de la Nouvelle Gravure Internationale of New York and Paris.

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