Salvador Dalí

Salvador Felip Jacint Dalí Domènech (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989) was an important Spanish painter, best known for his surrealist works. Dalí's work is noted for its striking combination of bizarre dreamlike images with excellent draftsmanship and painterly skills influenced by the Renaissance masters. Dalí was an artist of great talent and imagination. He had an admitted love of doing unusual things to draw attention to himself, which sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric theatrical manner sometimes overshadowed his artwork in public attention.

Dalí's politics

Dalí has sometimes been portrayed as a fascist supporter, especially by his enemies in surrealist groups. The reality is probably somewhat more complex, especially in light of the fact that he was an acquaintance of famed architect and designer Paul Laszlo.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his youth Dalí embraced for a time both anarchism and communism. His writings account various anecdotes of making radical political statements more to shock listeners than from any deep conviction. When he fell into the circle of mostly Marxist surrealists who denounced as enemies the monarchists on one hand and the anarchists on the other, Dalí explained to them that he personally was an anarcho-monarchist.

Related Topics:
Anarchism - Communism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Dalí fled from fighting and refused to align himself with any group.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dalí became closer to the Franco regime after his return to Catalonia after World War II. Some of Dalí's statements supported the repression of Franco's Fascist regime, congratulating Franco for his actions aimed "at clearing Spain of destructive forces". Dalí sent telegrams to Franco, praising him for signing death warrants for political prisoners. Dalí even painted a portrait of Franco's daughter. Dalí's eccentricities were tolerated by the Franco regime, since not many world-famous artists would accept living in Spain. One of Dalí's few possible bits of open disobedience was his continued praise of Federico García Lorca even in the years when Lorca's works were banned.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~