By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian Salvador Dalí described his technique as “hand-painted color photography.” It may be difficult to find a Dalí painting that fits that description better than “Portrait of Gala With Rhinocerotic Attributes” of 1954. The work, in the Teatru-Museu Dalí in Figueres, Spain, depicts a 60-year-old Gala in…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian When I was publicity director of the original Salvador Dalí Museum in Beachwood, Ohio, near Cleveland, a frequently asked question was posed to the museum owners (and benefactors of the present-day Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida), Reynolds and Eleanor Morse: “Which Dalí painting is your favorite?”…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian Perhaps there’s a bit of irony in this, but in my view some of Salvador Dalí’s very best creations were executed for unabashedly commercial assignments. A well-known example are the wonderful mixed-media pieces he produced for Bryan Hosiery. And this not very well known but spectacular oil…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian While we can always admire any Salvador Dalí painting for its imaginative nature and impressive technique, sometimes the meaning of his works leave us with more questions than answers. For this blogger, that’s certainly the case with Dalí’s 1939 oil on canvas, “Philosopher Illuminated by the Light…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian Some Salvador Dalí paintings just seem to embody everything about the man’s genius: his inimitable ideas, his Renaissance-like technical skill, his vision and innovation, and his unique success in seamlessly melding classicism and modernism. Such is the case in the stunning “My Wife Nude Contemplating Her…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian Ever notice how certain Salvador Dalí works just give you a good feeling? I suppose it’s usually when the work is “pretty,” like “Meditative Rose.” Or amusing, like “Celestial Ride” – both discussed in earlier posts here. For reasons largely unexplainable, I’m compulsively drawn to Dalí’s…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian It sure is fitting that, until it was sold at auction some years back for upwards of $2 million, “Young Virgin Autosodomized by Her Own Chastity” (1954) was one of the long-time prized possessions of Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner. Who better to proudly display what is arguably…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer/Historian I’m not sure you can point to any other major artist whose catalog was as diverse and, at times, as unpredictable as that of Salvador Dalí’s. The man famous – and infamous – for transcribing nightmarish images to canvas was the same man who captured some of the most…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian It’s high time we returned in this blog to Salvador Dalí’s signature image – the soft, melting watch. But this time the floppy watches first seen and best known in Dalí’s 1931 “Persistence of Memory” are now giving way to a new altered state in “La Montre Molle…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Writer & Historian Some of Salvador Dalí’s biggest achievements can be found in his smallest paintings. “The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft, Which Can be Used as a Table” is a perfect example. This is one of those jewel-like miniatures that tend to almost stun with their technical virtuosity. Like any…