Dali Biography

3 Pages 695 Words

May 15, 2005
“A true painter is one who can paint extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. A true painter is one who can patiently paint a pear in the midst of tumults of history.”
-Salvador Dali

"Salvador," as told by Dali, was “destined to rescue and save painting from the mediocre catastrophes of modern art.” Salvador Dali is considered the greatest artist of the surrealist movement and one of the greatest masters of art during the twentieth century, experimenting with numerous other creative forms: sculpture, screenwriting, jewelry, and different styles and genres of art. Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dalí I Domenech was born on May 11, 1904, as the son of a prestigious notary in the small town of Figueres, in Northern Spain. Salvador Dali is given the same name as his older brother, who died prior to his birth. Dali’s older brother Salvador passes away at the age of seven from an attack of meningitis. Dali wrote that they resembled each other like two drops of water, but with different reflections. The profound sadness experienced by their parents was transpired into an unconditional dedication towards their new child. His early childhood was spent in Figueres and at the family's summer home in the coastal fishing village of Cadaques, where his parents built his first studio. As an eccentric child dealing with life’s hardships it enabled him to artistically demonstrate his personal obsessions and fantasies by painting in bold dream world imagery. Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious, expounded in “The Interpretation of Dreams,” played a large role in influencing Dali and his passion for dreams. The other prevalent factor in the shaping of Dali’s artistic philosophy was found in the close knit avant-garde styles of French Surrealists.
Dali, as a young protégé, received his first drawing lessons when he was ten years old from then well known Spanish impressionist painter, Ramon...