Why Salvador Dali was expelled from the surrealist society and other little-known facts about the "crazy genius"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Salvador Dali is the world's most famous artist who became a major figure in the field of art in the 20th century. His life was very interesting and full of events, and he himself is considered an intriguing and extravagant figure. Therefore, here are ten of the most unusual facts about the life of the great surrealist genius.

1. He said that he remembered what was happening in his mother's womb

El Salvador was born on May 11, 1904 at approximately 8:45 am GMT. He soon described this moment in his life as "suffering incredible trauma during birth." He claimed that he actually remembers his prenatal experience and the wonderful world from which he came. Dali also stated that he remembers the time spent in the womb as if it was yesterday.

So, painting a picture called "Fried egg on a plate without a plate" he was inspired by the experience that he got in his mother's womb. He claimed that the most beautiful thing he saw while there was a couple of fried eggs on a plate. Therefore, he decided to reproduce it in the picture, using exclusively the colors that he saw there - red, yellow, orange, blue and others. Scientists argue that his fanatical obsession with this painting signifies a desire to create the very ideal world that he, he says, remembered, and which is different from the harsh reality.

2. He believed that he was the reincarnation of his deceased brother

Before the future genius was born in the Dali family, the couple in love already had a child, whose name was also Salvador. However, the baby left this world due to a stomach infection when he was two years old. Nine months after that, the greatest surrealist was born. Since the baby was born exactly nine months after the death of the first, the parents decided that he was in fact his reincarnation.

When the boy was five, mom and dad took him to his brother's grave and told him about it. It is believed that this moment had a huge psychological impact on the artist, which is why he began to believe in this. Many of his works contain some references to his deceased brother, who, according to Salvador himself, was his ideal piece. Among these, it is worth noting a painting created in 1963 and named as "The Portrait of My Deceased Brother".

3. He picked his friend off the bridge

Salvador's mother loved him very much, pampered and allowed him literally everything. Such upbringing led to the fact that Salvador grew up as a very capricious child who demanded increased attention to himself. The boy often had outbursts of anger from scratch, as a result of which he could attack any person nearby. It is noted that Dali often beat his younger sister Anna-Maria, who was four years younger than him.

However, the worst manifestation of his sadism was the case when he, noting that there were no railings on the bridge, threw his friend off it. The boy fell from a height of about five meters and was seriously injured. However, El Salvador himself did not regret too much or regretted this act. Instead of helping his friend, he sat quietly on the bridge and ate cherries, watching the baby's mother help her bloody son. It is also known that Dali often fell down stairs of his own free will, because he wanted to feel pain and enjoyed it.

4. He was expelled from art school

In 1922 he entered the Royal Academy of Arts in Madrid, where his eccentricity reached new heights. He began to paint, grew long hair, and a pompous mustache, inspired by the Spanish artist Diego Velazquez, who worked in the 17th century. Dali also dressed like 19th century British aristocrats.

Dali practically did not listen to his teachers, because he believed that they knew nothing about modern trends in the art world. He also noted that he learned most of the information about what is happening in the art world now not in the Academy, but in avant-garde art magazines.

His love for himself and disrespect for others was demonstrated to them during an oral exam at the end of the first year. So, he refused to answer the questions of the professors, arguing that he knows much more than they themselves, and that, of course, he is much smarter than them. Subsequently, for these actions, he was expelled from the academy.

5. Dali encouraged cheating on his wife

In 1929, El Salvador meets a woman named Elena Dyakonova-Devulina, who would later be better known as Gala. She was nine years older than him, and was married to the French poet Paul Eluard. However, this did not prevent the couple from entering into a very stormy relationship immediately after their meeting. Ultimately, Gala left her husband and in 1934, they got married with Dali.

Historians point out that Gala and El Salvador had a very unconventional relationship. It is known that Gala had many lovers outside of marriage and mainly chose young and unknown artists for this role. One of these was her former husband-poet Eluard.

It is believed that El Salvador was well aware of her adventures and even encouraged them. The artist practiced such a form of sexual perversion as candaulism, which consisted of taking pleasure in giving his woman to other people to satisfy their needs, as well as showing her to outsiders. However, this did not prevent the couple from having a strong and very long-term relationship, in which she was his main muse, passion and manager.

6. He is known for his extraordinary behavior

Salvador always knew how to attract attention and loved him madly. For example, he could easily show up for a Paris lecture on art in a Rolls Royse, chock-full of cauliflower, or dress up in a diving suit. One day he and his wife went to a carnival. She was dressed as Linderbeg's child, and Dali himself participated in her abduction. A little later, he had to apologize for this behavior, since it seriously disturbed the people of America, who believed that it was unacceptable to behave this way.

Unkempt appearance, chickens and other animals on his head, were the norm for El Salvador, who tried with all his might to attract attention and maintain the image of a crazy artist.

7. He invented the paranoid-critical method in surrealism

Surrealism was a very influential movement in art, whose adherents rejected everything rational, sought the unconscious, which could help them activate the power of their imaginations. Today, Dali is considered the most famous, influential, and also commercially successful surrealist artist.

El Salvador made an impressive contribution to the development of surrealism, in particular he created the paranoid-critical method. In the 1930s, Dali introduced this technique, which consisted of trying to interact with your own subconscious with irrational thoughts and putting yourself into a paranoid state. To achieve this state, Dali often stood on his head until he lost consciousness.

Most of all, of the paranoid state, Dali was interested in the ability of the human brain to perceive connections between objects that are not rational. According to him, the paranoid-critical method was "a method of spontaneous irrational cognition, which is based on critical and systematic associations, as well as interpretations of insane phenomena."

8. He was expelled from the surrealist society

The Surrealist movement as such was created by the French writer André Breton. In fact, Dali has been influenced by this movement since 1924, when Breton published his own magazine, The Surrealist Revolution.

When there was political tension in Europe in the years leading up to World War II, all surrealists united against the ideas of Adolf Hitler and Nazism in general. However, instead of following this, Dali offered his help and support to Francisco Franco, the Spanish fascist and military dictator. He also said a very strange thing about Adolf Hitler, noting that he "dreamed of him as a woman who could dishonor him." He also painted a picture called "The Riddle of Hitler" in 1939, which is why he was expelled from the group of surrealists. From that moment on, most of them spoke of El Salvador in the past tense, as if he had already left this world. When Dali was asked his opinion about this exile, he said: "I myself am surrealism."

9. He was nicknamed "Avida Dollars" because he was obsessed with money

Salvador Dali himself argued that he does not belong to people who adore money. However, at the same time, he did everything possible in order to earn as much as possible and was literally a fan of money. For example, he designed the logo for Chupa Chups, Lanvin candies, as well as brandy, pain reliever and even an alcoholic seltzer. Not wanting to pay in restaurants and cafes, he drew his drawing on the back of the check, realizing that no one in his right mind would cash a check with the drawing of the great surrealist.

His fanatical love of money brought him unprecedented success, as well as financial stability. His fortune was estimated at about thirty million dollars. And it was this obsession that led André Breton to come up with the nickname "Avida Dollars", which was an anagram to the artist's name, and also meant "hungry for dollars."

10. It is believed that he twice intended to commit suicide

Salvador was madly attached to his wife, Gala. In 1968, he bought a whole castle for her in Pubol, where she stayed for several weeks since 1971, and Dali himself was allowed to come there only with a written agreement from the woman herself. The fear of his wife leaving him exacerbated his depression and worsened his health.

In 1980, Dali was forced to stop painting and visual arts because his hands were shaking too much due to movement disorders. And in 1982 his wife Gala passed away. All these events significantly crippled the artist, and he could not cope with his depression, which only worsened. Because of this, he lost his will and will to live. Doctors stated deliberate dehydration, and many suggest that in this way Dali tried to commit suicide. In 1984, a fire broke out in El Salvador's bedroom, from which he was rescued by his friend, Robert Descharnes. This was probably another attempt to commit suicide. Ultimately, Salvador Dali left this world on January 23, 1989 from heart failure when he was 84 years old.

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