Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - the most famous surrealist artist, scandalist and eccentric, a master of peculiar statements about himself, people around him, life and creativity, often no less interesting than his paintings. For his long life was married only once - a case for a popular, rich and extravagant artist living in the XX century is already quite unusual, often celebrities change wives and mistresses like gloves, probably thinking that if you are lucky to achieve everything in this life, you need to use it to the full. But Dali was enough and our compatriot Gala. She he idolized, she was for Dali everything - a muse, a wife, and even a cult. About Salvador Dali, his amazing paintings and the Russian woman Gala, who managed to fall in love with himself without memory of the great surrealist and live with him a long life, we will talk in this article.
Salvador Dali
By the way, do not think that Dali wrote paintings exclusively in the artistic direction of surrealism. In his youth he was an impressionist, tried to write in the style of cubism, and in adulthood - neoclassicism. Dali's work is as multifaceted as his life. Like the great Picasso Dali was constantly in creative search, perhaps because he created his masterpieces.
The metamorphosis of the daffodil
By and large, Dalí was predestined to become a great artist from childhood. He was a very impressionable boy, in addition, his parents did everything for his creative development.
Dali was born in the Catalan town of Figueres, his father worked as a notary, and very successfully, because the family did not need money, and parents could provide their son with everything necessary. True and pampered him beyond measure, in five years he bought a carnival royal mantle, and little Salvador with pleasure it wore, took such an outfit as a matter of course. Such honors he will perceive as something completely natural all his life.
By the way, Salvador in Spanish - savior. His mother was very worried about the death of her first child, so spoiled her second son, considered him a reincarnation of the first. Often went with him to the grave, where she showed little Dali the grave of his too early dead brother.
Motherhood
Drawing Dali began at the age of 6, parents such fun did not prevent, even allocated for them a separate room. There he and painted all the walls, and at the age of 10 wrote his first oil painting in the direction of impressionism. At 14 - the first exhibition of paintings in his hometown, in 17 - Dali entered the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts. And the student he was very diligent, did not go to the movies, did not walk the night away with friends and girls, and after classes came to his little room and again began to study. Even on Sunday went to the library and took the catalogs of painters, carefully studied their paintings from books and art albums. Dali's father, seeing such an aspiration of his son to study, not at a joke worried and advised him to walk outside and meet with friends, not to dwell only on the lessons. But Dali did not listen to him, in his words: "my inner life, all this suited, and all sorts of entertainment only irritated. In and these words all Dali - a huge ability, multiplied by the inordinate diligence, purposefulness and efficiency, complete rejection of any fun besides painting and study.
Figure and drapery on the background of the landscape
But here is the Academy Dali never finished, too often began to argue with teachers, doubt their artistic skill. His talent and extraordinary nature was cramped in this educational institution, and when he was fired, he went to the Mecca of all artists of the late XIX-early XX century - Paris, where he got together with Pablo Picasso and the founder of surrealism poet Andre Breton.
In 1929 in the life of Dali occurred two important events - he joined the ranks of the society of surrealists and met Gala. Actually, her real name - Helen Diakonova, she was by then already married to the poet Paul Eluard and ten years older than the 25-year-old Dali. They immediately liked each other - Dali realized that this was the woman with whom he was destined to be together, and everything else did not matter.
Portrait of Gala
They began to live in the small village of Port Lligat, rented there a fisherman's house, which later, as Dalí's popularity and his material well-being grew, was completed to a real white stone mansion of unusual architecture, quite in the spirit of Dalí's paintings.
Dali's house in Port Lligat
In the early 30s, it was there that Dalí painted his famous canvases "The Permanence of Memory", "The Face of Mae West" and others.
The permanence of memory
Gala was with him, provided almost ideal conditions for creativity. The artist must write his masterpieces, and all the rest of the husk - the sale of paintings, care of life and money Gala took on herself. She was a muse for Dali, his wife, babysitter, the main person in life. Soon he quarreled with many friends, surrealists - even to them his behavior, epatage and views on life were too eccentric, but Dali no longer had any business with them, the main thing - Gala was with him.
Gala and Salvador Dali
Fleeing World War II Dali and Gala moved to the U.S., where Dali was very much in demand - writing paintings and books, constantly appearing at all sorts of social parties, giving interviews and surprising everyone with his epathetic antics, from which sometimes suffers and himself.
The face of Mae West
Once at a lecture on unconsciousness he appeared in a spacesuit, leading two greyhound dogs and carrying a billiard cue. And all would have been well, but Dali because of lack of air began to choke, had to hammer down the helmet, at the same time thoroughly stunned the artist himself. However, the audience was delighted - they thought it was just a deliberately staged performance.
However, despite the fame and money, Dali wanted to live and create in his native Spain, so he moved there when the echo of the Second World War subsided.
Atomic Leda
In late 1960, the relationship between Dalí and Gala became strained. Dali platonically fell in love with the French singer, actress and model Amanda Lear, but Gala platonic love was not enough, and she began to meet with several young lovers. Therefore, and decided to separate, to live in different houses, and Dali in his custom, the funds allowed, bought her a real castle.
And since the mid-1970s, 70-year-old Dali almost stopped writing paintings. However, his financial situation only improved - old paintings sold for huge sums, breaking record after record, Dali worked so hard for his name that now the name began to work for him.
The Last Supper
At the age of about 90, his incomparable Gala dies. For Dali it was the loss of a lifetime, he moves to live in the castle he gave her and slowly fades from longing for his eternal muse. There was a fire, Dali received fifth-degree burns, but still survives. However, the last years of his life is difficult to call happy - having lost Gala, Dali as if lost himself. Unfriendly, tired of fame and life, barely moving his legs gray-haired old man - this is a portrait of Dali on the slope of his life. He no longer cared about grandiose performances, nor about money and fame. However, creativity remained - then he wrote a few of his final paintings.
Dali ordered to bury himself in his museum under a glass dome so that people could walk over his grave - quite in his spirit, and a considerable fortune - 10 million dollars bequeathed to Spain, which, along with Gala, loved all his life.
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