Salvador
Dali was born on the 11th Mai in 1904 in the town Fiqueras in Spain. His
father was a notary from Cadaques. Originaly the name Salvador was given
to his elder brother, who died three years before Dali his birth. Till
his siter Ana Maria was born, Salvador was only child. For Dali this meant
he could do everything he wanted, he got completely spoiled.
Every day he went to the local
school of Fiqueras, where he later on also visited the academy. 
At
the academy he studied about the secrets of the light and the dark of
the masters of the Renaissance.
When Dali was seven years old, he wanted to be Napoleon. During that period
he also discovered Cadaques and it's beautiful bay. This encounter was
the beginning of his lifelong love for Cadaques. The strange coloured
rocks and the deserted beaches have become the subject for many of Dali's
studies.
Salvador
Dali dedicated himself with passion to painting. He discovered the
Impressionism
and painted his canvas with luxuriant coulours. But most of all he was
trying to create his image. He wanted to be an immediate recognizable
person. Therefor he had long hair and whiskers and he was waring a long
cape with a colourfull bow-tie. He grew his moustache with curls on both
sides. It was as if he knew he was going to be a personality as well as
an artist. From early on Dali dealt with megalomania an extraordinary
imagination.
After
Dali's first exhibition, in Fiqueras, wich was a great succes, Dali his
father decided to send him to The Academy of Art in Madrid. At the academy
he came, for the first time in his life, in touch with a
complete different life-style than the one he was used to in the province.
Salvador was puzzeled at first, but soon he became delighted. He met many
new people and made many new friends. One of his new friends was Luis
Brunel. Luis Brunel played an active role in the Spanisch was constantly
fighting against the religion and the society. He tried to shock the people
with the books he wrote and the films he made. Together with Dali he made
the films 'Chien Andalou' and 'L'Age d'Or'. Both of the films brought
about quite a scandal.
In
Catalunia it realy got out of hand. Up till two times the police wrongly
accused Dali initiating the political fights. Twice they suspended him
from the acadamy and he even had to go to prison. Nevertheless Dali kept
on painting. He met some kubistic painters and studied the Cubism.
But soon he switched from Kubism to Surrealism,
wich finally fitted his ideas.
In
1927 Dali went to Paris, something he had been looking forward to for
a long time. He visited Pablo Picasso. Picasso and Dali understoud
each other withoud words. There eyes and movements said enough. Juan
Miro, another surrealistic painter, introduced Dali to the surrealists
in Paris. In 1929, soon after the introduction, Dali joined them. During
this period, Dali met many surrealistic artists, from painters to architects
and poets. He also met his future wife Gala. Gala modeled a lot for Dali's
paintings and she has been the subject and inspiration for many of his
paintings.
Soon 
after
Dali went back to Spain, he told himself he wanted to be crazy and started
acting like he
was. All of this, just because he fell head over heal in love with Gala.
Fortunatly Gala came to Cadaques and she knew how to handle the crazy
in love being Dali. End of 1929 they got married and the never left each
other again. They settled down in Port-Lligat and Dali dedicated himself
again to his work. He created the weak watches and gave many lectures.
Most of his lectures ended with trouble and in 1933 he even was involved
in the Catalunion rebellion.
Dali's
political statements as well as his admiration for Hitler and his monarchistic
symphaties caused in 1934 a break between Dali and the other surrealists.
The publication of Dali's painting 'The mystery of Wilhelm Tell'
made this break even worse. This painting shows Lenin without pants, with
a large extended tail-bone.
Soon after his break with the surrealists,
Dali went to the United States. Here he finally encountered the perfect
enviroment to explore his exhibitionistic sides. A large exhibition was
held in New York
and America loved him. On the first day of the exhibition Dali sold all
of the paintings. Dali got so many
new requests that is was impossible for him to fullfil them all. Dali
ended up overworked and depressed.
In 1936 this crisis reached its top. The
war in Spain started soon followed by the First World War. Dali, who was
painting violant, depressed paintings with the war as his subject, had
to flee with Gala to America. Just as they arrived, a review of Dali's
work was exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The crisis
ended and they
stayed in New York till 1948.
In
1948 Dali and Gala moved back to Port-Lligat near Cadaqeus in Spain. To
stop the building projects nearby, this whole area was declared as National
Monument for the society. It had to remain as it was and nobody was allowed
to change it. Finally Dali could take control over his own life again.
He became interested in religion, visited the Pope and converted to the
Classicism. His chaotic life became structured and carefully organized.
Dali devided his time between Port-Lligat, Paris 
and
New-York. Dali worked when he was home and played the clown in Paris and
New-York. But whatever he did, he always tried to involve current political
affairs into his work and lectures.
While different styles and Art movements
became mixed or dissapeared completely, Dali kept his own style. He knew
he had to fight with his work against the future. To bring his fight to
a positive end he continualy looked for new wapens with his painting as
well as with his playing the clown for the
world. Only by constant renewal he was able to keep shocking the world
and to keep people listening.
In
1973 his own Museum was opened in his city of birth, Fiqueras.
Many studies, paintings and other creations are exhibited. The year 1982
was the worsed of his life. It was the year his wife Gala died. Dali his
whole life didn't make sense anymore. He didn't feel like living anymore.
Even when he got the title of 'Marquis of Pubol' nothing changed. In his
final years Dali lived alone and lived a quite, retreated life in the
Pubol castle. Salvador Dali died in 1989 in the hospital of Fiqueras.
To the Dali Gallery