Dali

by Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Full-color and black-and-white reproductions capture the intriguing artwork of surrealist Salvador Dali, accompanied by a discussion of his life and work.

Genres: Art, Biography

238 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (July 3, 1888, Madrid - January 13, 1963, Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He was especially known for "Greguerías" - a short form of poetry that roughly corresponds to the one-liner in comedy. The Gregueria is especially able to grant a new and often humorous perspective.He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel.

He was a partner of Carmen de Burgos

Gómez de la Serna published over 90 works in all literary genres. In 1933, he was invited to Buenos Aires. He stayed there during the Spanish Civil War and the following Franco regime and died there.

Reviews

[.W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

a frustrating work overall. de la Serna is well-published and lauded (somewhat) by Dali himself in his roundabout way but he died before this could be properly finished. as such it's a melange of essays, criticism and an entertaining interview in which Dali skewer Chagall, among others. it's no surprise that the artist himself had praise for this - the biography as written hews heavily toward the hagiographic. the stars are for the works themselves, absolutely stunning no matter what stance you take on Dali's politics or well-documented megalomania. there's a good quote from Dali regarding art being about work - from such a restless mind it rings true.

this focuses more on his post-surrealism periods, especially his nuclear mysticism and obsession with Catholicism in his later career. confounding as usual, worth a look for some of the details of the monumental canvases from the 60's and 70's. for me the most striking pieces were actually the sketches, some of mounted horseman, some of Gala (of course), some of the landscapes of Port Lligat. in a few lines they conjure entire worlds, truly poetic and moving. the man was a titan.