By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian Much has been written about the rocky relationship between Salvador Dalí and his father. The senior Dalí disowned his son – and the feeling was mutual – when Salvador brought Gala into the picture. It also didn’t help that the young artist’s irreverent personal and artistic tendencies further…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian Like it or not, size matters. At least when it comes to the art of Salvador Dalí. We’re talking paintings, of course, not prints or drawings or sculpture, albeit some of those offer surprising revelations, too. But size inevitably enters into the Dalí picture, and probably first reared its…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian I was recently reminded of an intriguing phenomenon – invariably related to the appreciation of art – known as the Stendhal Syndrome. It’s a condition named after 19th-century French author, Stendhal (pseudonym of Marie-Henri Beyle), who, during his 1817 visit to Florence, Italy, was overcome with emotion….
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian Dalí jokingly proclaimed, “There’s never a dully moment with Dalí!” The man had a great sense of humor, even if that particular one-liner could have benefited from some support from his iconic crutches. There’s also never a moment when Dalí isn’t in the news. Or so it…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian The issue of nudity in art recently hit home with me in connection with my own amateur art career, but I won’t bore my readers here with details. It raises an important issue, though: that of the naked human form in art. How much, if any, is too…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian It’s curious how dots sometimes get connected in the world of Salvador Dalí. Often when you least expect them to. Often in most arcane and peculiar ways. A friend of mine, who’s an avid reader of this blog, as well as of The Salvador Dalí Society®, Inc.©’s…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian With all the award shows these days – Best of this, Best of that – I’ve decided to cite my own “Best of” when it comes to the paintings of Salvador Dalí. Dalí’s prints and drawings, too, might get their own “awards show” at some future date (one…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian As Dalí historian for The Salvador Dalí Society®, Inc.©, I’m often asked which Dalí images I like best. My answer is unwaveringly the same when it comes to the Master’s oil paintings. My favorite is the immense and majestic Santiago El Grande (St. James the Great), the most popular…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian Dalí the influencer. That’s the Dalí I want to talk about today. The man not only influenced virtually every aspect of contemporary art and popular culture during his prolific career, but continues to do so long after his passing nearly 30 years ago. We see the influence…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí Historian Salvador Dalí could be a man of opposites. He would, at times, say one thing, yet mean something diametrically opposed to what he’d stated. He could, for instance, claim to not like children (he called them “embryons”), yet could be seen with his arm around his godchild. He…