By Paul Chimera Dalí Society® Historian/Writer You wouldn’t be reading this, had I not elected to take an art appreciation course my freshman year of college. That’s when the professor showed a large color slide projection of the Dalí painting, “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans; Premonition of Civil War” (1936-’37). I was hooked. The bizarre,…
This is the first of a once-a-week interview with Dalí guru Joe Nuzzolo, President of The Salvador Dalí Society®, Inc. Dalí Society® historian/blogger Paul Chimera will be asking the questions. Enjoy! Paul Chimera (PC): You have an important Dalí Catalog Raisonne coming out. When can we expect it to be published and why is it…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Society® Historian/Writer Who among us hasn’t had some conflict with our parents at some point in our lives? Especially when we were younger? Being, on occasion — sometimes extended occasions — disenchanted with parental authority is almost a rite of passage, yes? Twenty-nine-year-old Salvador Dalí was no different. In 1929, he…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Society® Historian/Writer The late Reynolds Morse, Dalí’s leading patron, Dalí expert and benefactor of the Dalí Museum in St. Pete, Florida, was an intense man. He spoke his mind. He was insistent in his beliefs. Even if it meant duking it out with Dalí. “I don’t like it. It doesn’t fit…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Society® Historian/Writer The year 1970 was another prolific and productive year for then 66-year old Dalí. But it shall forever be remembered for his completion of a single painting — what some consider the greatest of all of his paintings: “The Hallucinogenic Toreador.” As a Dalí expert, I’ve devoured hundreds of…
By Paul Chimera Dalí Society® Historian/Writer “I always want the public to completely understand what I do, and how I do it, right from the start,” said no Spanish Surrealist master named Salvador Dalí, ever! It was, of course, very much the opposite. Dalí thrived on consternation, bewilderment, confusion, and mystery. He was a living…
By Paul Chimera Salvador Dalí historian If this Dalí painting doesn’t make you smile, you may need serious counseling. Salvador Dalí had a sense of humor the size of California, and “Celestial Ride” (1957) is a great example of it. Who else but Dalí would depict a rhinoceros (average weight 3,300 lbs.) towering over a landscape,…
Carmen Salvador Dalí, 1970 Suite of lithographs (pictured above: 3 of 25 works from the suite) Salvador Dalí, though he sometimes talked about having Arabic roots, was in fact very proudly Spanish, and some of his greatest works seem to be those that reflect the apotheosis of Spanish heritage, custom, and heart. A supreme…
Bust of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Original sculpture Salvador Dalí 1965 Two iconic 20th century heroes share an unlikely nexus in this head-turning original sculpture: the decorated but ill-fated U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, and the Master of Surrealism, Salvador Dalí. Skillfully fashioned from Dalí’s own hands – not merely a three-dimensional object…
Las Meninas- ‘Maids of Honor’ from the suite Changes in Great Masterpieces Lithograph 1974 By Paul Chimera Dalí Historian (Mr. Chimera worked directly with Dalí Museum founder Reynolds Morse, as the publicity director of the original Dalí Museum when it was located in Beachwood, Ohio) At age 77, Dalí had built an…