Dali

Painter, sculptor, writer, filmmaker, and all-round showman, Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was one of the greatest eccentrics and exhibitionists of the 20th century. Among the first artists to apply the insights of Freudian psychoanalysis to art, he is celebrated above all for his surrealist practice, with inventions such as melting watches and the lobster telephone, today symbols of surrealism and, more generally, modernism.

Dalí often described his paintings as "hand-painted photographs of dreams." Their compelling tension and interest lie in the precise rendering of bizarre elements and incongruous juxtapositions. As he himself explained, he painted with "the most imperialistic fury of precision," but only to "systematize confusion and thus contribute to completely discrediting the world of reality."

Revolutionizing the role of the artist, Dalí—with his iconic curled moustache—also had the intuition to expose a controversial personality in public and to create, through print, fashion, advertising, writing, and cinema, works intended not only for gallery contemplation, but also for consumption.

This volume explores both Dalí's painting and his personality, highlighting his technical skills, provocative compositions and the unsettling themes that ran through his work: death, decadence and eroticism.

The author
Gilles Néret (1933–2005) was an art historian, journalist, writer, and museum correspondent. He organized numerous exhibitions in Japan and founded the SEIBU Museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He edited art magazines such as L'Œil and Connaissance des Arts , and in 1981 received the Elie Faure Prize for his publications.