Salvatore Dali with ocelot friend at St Regis, 1965.
As an eccentric figure from childhood, Dali loved to push the boundariesboth in his personal and professional life.
And he was also a hustler and master of self-promotion.
Salvatore Dali with ocelot friend at St Regis, 1965. (Photo:Roger Higgins / Library of Congress)
Dali wasn’t the only Salvador in his family.
Not only was his father named Salvador, but so was his older brother.
Dali’s brother died just nine months before the artist was born.
Photograph of Salvador Dalí, 1934 (Photo:Carl Van Vechten / Library of Congress)
His older brother would become prominent in Dali’s later work, like the 1963Portrait of My Dead Brother.
He started painting as a young child.
Dalis earliest known painting was produced in 1910 when he was just 6 years old.
Photograph of Salvador Dalí and Man Ray in Paris, 1934 (Photo:Carl Van Vechten / Library of Congress)
The impressive piece reveals the iconic artists incredible, natural-born talent at such a young age.
It now hangs in the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
He was expelled from art school (twice).
Unfortunately, Dali never graduated.
His first expulsion came in 1923, for his role in a student protest.
After returning to the school, he faced a second expulsion just before his final exams in 1926.
Dalí’s mustache was inspired by Spanish Baroque artist Diego Velázquez.Diego Velázquez, “Self-Portrait,” c. 1650 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
I am infinitely more intelligent than these three professors, and I therefore refuse to be examined by them.
I know this subject much too well.
This allowed him to access his subconscious and was a major contribution to the Surrealist movement.
Photograph of Dalí and Gala receiving an elephant, which was a gift from Air Bus airlines, 1967 (Photo:Ajuntament de Girona)
He createdThePersistence of Memorywhen he was 28.
Surrealists werent pleased with him.
Many in the group were communists and weren’t pleased with Dali’s fascist sympathies.
The artist had a fascination with Hitler that the Surrealists found unsettling.
His signature mustache was inspired by another famous Spanish painter.
She had a pivotal role in the artist’s career, becoming his business manager and muse.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom imagIN.gr photography/Shutterstock
Throughout their lives, there’s no doubt they shared an intense and cerebral love.
Always up for a prank, some consider Dali a bit of a con man.
Apparently, Ono had asked Dali to sell him a strand of hair from his infamous mustache.
Not one to turn down a check, he got creative.
Dali thought that Yoko Ono was a witch and might use it in a spell.
He didn’t want to send her a personal item, much less one of his hairs, Learexplained.
The idiot paid 10,000 dollars for it.
It amused him to rip people off.
He collaborated with Disney.
In 1946, Salvador Dali and Disney designer John Hench worked on an animated film together calledDestino.
Dali created 22 oil paintings and countless drawings that Hench then turned into film storyboards.
He designed the Chupa Chups logo.
Dali had no issue participating in commercial work.
He designed ads for Gap and even appeared in a commercial for Lanvin chocolates in 1968.
But one of his most enduring contributions to graphic design is theChupa Chups logo.
Dali designed the logo for the Spanish lollipop brand in 1969, and it is still used today.
He loved throwing dinner parties.
Dali and his wife Galaloved staging elaborate dinner parties.
But, in true Dali fashion, these weren’t ordinary dinners.
He paid his restaurant bills in doodles.
Thrifty and clever, Dali found an innovative way to get out of paying for a meal.
He moonlighted as a fashion designer.
He worked closely with Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who created designs based on his artwork.
In 1950, he collaborated with close friend Christian Dior on a project about fashion inspired by the future.
Dali’s contribution was A dress for 2045.
He produced covers forVogue.
When we think ofVoguecovers, photographs of supermodels come to mind.
ButDali created four coversfor the legendary fashion magazine.
His first, the December 1938 cover, shows two women.
His April 1944 design sees him incorporate the wordVogueinto his art piece.
For the December 1971 issue, he not only designed the cover, but also acted as editor.
He designed jewelryincluding a pulsating heart.
And that’s not the most impressive part.
An internal mechanism causesThe Royal Heartto beat as though it were a live human heart.
The Royal Heartis the centerpiece of the Dali-Joies collection now located at the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain.
The collection started in 1941, when American millionaire Cummins Catherwood acquired 22 pieces by the artist.
He’d designed the jewels on paper and closely supervised Argentinian goldsmith Carlos Alemany, who executed the work.
He created a hologram of Alice Cooper.
When Dali discovered this, he was impressed.
Dalis people rang my manager and explained that hed seen one of my stadium shows, Cooper toldAnother Man.
Cooper was just 25 years old when he and Dali met in 1973.
I said: That’s great, when were done can I have it?'
He said Of course not, its worth millions!'
Cooper and Dali’s encounter remains one of the great artist/musician collaborations in history.
He illustrated a copy ofAlice in Wonderland.
There’s no better surreal imagery for Dali than the equally bizarre tale ofAlice in Wonderland.
Only 2,700 copies were created, but luckily a new reissue ensures that the work will live on.
Dali created 13 designs for the book, one for each chapter and the cover.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom imagIN.gr photography/Shutterstock
He built his own museum.
Dali not onlycreated his own museum, he’s also buried there.
After his death in 1989, he was buried under the stage of the theater.
His trademark mustache remains intact to this day.
I was eager to see him and I was absolutely stunned.
It was like a miracle, said Narcis Bardalet, who was in charge of embalming Dali’s body.
His mustache appeared at 10 past 10 exactly and his hair was intact.
Exploring the Movements That Define the Groundbreaking Genre
20 Revolutionary Art Movements That Have Shaped Our Visual History
