Book Description
TASCHEN's 25th anniversary ? Special edition! Two large-format hardcover volumes in a slipcase at a special bestseller price Picasso called Dal? "an outboard motor that's always running." Dal? thought himself a genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head. Painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker, Salvador Dal? (1904-1989) was one of the century's greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics?and was rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the first to apply the insights of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis to the art of painting, approaching the subconscious with extraordinary sensitivity and imagination. This lively monograph presents the infamous Surrealist in full color and in his own words. His provocative imagery is all here, from the soft watches to the notorious burning giraffe. A friend of the artist for over thirty years, privy to the reality behind Dal?'s public image, author Robert Descharnes is uniquely qualified to analyze Dal??both the man and the myth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Stunning
Well, at nearly 6kg, a whap in the head with this thing would certainly loosen some screws. That's not what I meant, though.

It's huge, beautiful, and encyclopedic. It covers Dalí's entire career, with all of the different stages he went through in creating his art and himself. There's just too much to try to summarize here - the book takes over 1600 photos to illustrate his life. Most of them depict Dalí's art or Dalí himself (I still suspect that he lived his entire life as a work of performance art). Others depict influences on his art. Some show work by other artists, for contrast or as part of Dalí's heritage. A few show features of the natural world, a rock formation, for example, that the alchemy of Dalí's magic transmuted into new visual elements.

And, throughout, there is Gala - Dalí's wife, agent, manager, muse, model, and tour guide for his visit to planet Earth. I hate the phrase that would call Gala his "better half," but I'm sure that Dalí would have been incomplete in many ways without her. Certainly, his finished works owe much to the way she inspired him.

I fault this wonderful work for only one thing, but one that I find maddening: there is no index. In partial compensation, end matter lists each photo or work of art, in numerical order as they appeared in the book, with provenance and other information about any art shown. A bibliogrpahy would have been nice, too - but no index! With a book like this, it almost feels as if the last twenty pages had been ripped out.

Don't let that bit of pedantry get in the way of enjoying this marvelous collection, though. You might want to supplement this book with some of Dalí's own writing, such as The unspeakable confessions of Salvador Dali or Diary of a Genius, to name only a few. I can't imagine that you'll want another display of his artwork, except maybe the lithos.

-- wiredweird

Best Dali Book.
I have many books on Dali and his artwork. Some I have bought, some others have bought for me, but I was given this book as a gift, and I love it. I have decided that I do not need any of the other books on him, this one has all the famous pieces and more, some of the pictures I never even knew that he had created. Plus it is very informative. This is an amazing book, I would recommend anyone interested insurrealism to buy this book, for its price, it is a steal!

A stunning collection of beautiful reproductions
"Salvador Dali: The Paintings" is quite impressive. It's one of Taschen's finest books, those thousand-dollar limited editions notwithstanding. Thankfully, this massive collection is priced within the range of poor graduate students like myself.

If you're like me, you may think you have a pretty good idea about what a Dali painting looks like. Everyone knows the "melting clock" style, but after spending some time with this collection, I was surprised at my ignorance. Dali painted in so many varied styles, that I couldn't believe it. He's painted in most every style from baroque to impressionism to abstract expressionism and more.

I was taken aback by this and began to question whether or not he actually had an artistic voice of his own. Sometimes when an artist seems to cover a wide range of styles, it's no more than compensation for having no voice of their own. However, after a bit more study, I'm happy to report that this is not the case. No matter what style he adopts, it manages to gently subvert it, thereby putting his unique stamp on everything he does. When you look at how he can so skillfully master any given style and then twist its visual language, it's no wonder he's one of the great artists of the 20th century.

All this is to say, you'll most likely be surprised at what you find in this collection. Thankfully, there is excellent commentary along with the paintings, so you have some historical and critical context. As for the reproductions themselves, they are stunning. Taschen's reputation for quality is once again reaffirmed. The set is about 13" by 10", making the reproductions nice and big.

I could go on, but it's not necessary. If you're interested in Dali, you need this wonderful collection. You'll enjoy many hours of strange and beautiful work. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (12)

Wowzers
I don't write many 5 star reviews, but I really really liked this book. It is truly a peek into a brilliant mind. As an artist, it is impossible for me to read this book and not be inspired. As usual, Dali has his fun with the audience, but that only adds to the greatness of this work.

Certainly Original
So original and bizarre, the first half of the book should be made into a movie.

A Struggle to get Through
the book had a little of everything.Salvador Dali can be an interesting writer, and some sections of the book demonstrate this.The early chapters of the book covering his childhood are difficult to trudge through between irrational events and memories and ones that seem plausible.It is not a very good autobiography for recording ones milestones, but I suppose it recorded things that appealed and became ingrained in Dali to become motifs in his art, such as crutches for instance.As the book progressed Dali's philosophy became a little more clear and the book a little more interesting, especially as he and his wife Gala visited America and the world was prepping for World War II.All in all, I would rather have read a straight forward Dali biography than his convoluted auto-biography.You have to be a very tolerant reader to put up episodes that are difficult to visualizse or understand and to keep asking yourself, "Is this true or is Dali dreaming it up?"

Fictitious? It Doesn't Matter...
I know Dali well enough to know that this book is largely embellishments and his imagination running wild. But it just doesn't matter because this book, like his art, is brilliant. The purpose of reading an autobiography is to learn about he author, and we do plenty of learning in this case. The parts about his childhood and his early love life are the best. The portions about his opportunistic wife are the dullest.

simply amazing!!! a true reading experience never to forget.
considering my obsession with dali, you readers may find that my comment will be somewhat biased...yes, this book is quite strange and exaggerated, but how and what would you expect dali ,this eccentric artist to write? when you read this book, you get the feel of dali...whether his narcissim or egotism, you do not have to take him too seriously...he loved to shock and contradict in his life time , and naturally that was his goal with this book...its quite amusing really! a book that in my opinion must be read by dali lovers or haters. ... Read more

Book Description
For the first time, this book—authorized by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation—provides a visual history of Dalí’s entire career, illustrated with previously unpublished personal photographs, sketchbooks, drawings, letters, posters, and commercial designs, many of them drawn from the archives at the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation.

The photographs in particular offer key insights into the artist’s career; in them we see Dalí as a child, in his studio, with his inseparable wife and muse Gala, and traveling the world and fraternizing with celebrities including Harpo Marx, Walt Disney, Sidney Poitier, Andy Warhol, Gregory Peck, Alice Cooper, and Robert Kennedy. The inclusion of numerous designs for handbills and exhibition posters as well as magazine covers and book jackets suggests the scale of Dalí’s prolific output beyond the gallery walls. Also included are reproductions of his most famous works.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:
Tate Modern, London, June 1–September 9, 2007
LACMA, Los Angeles, October 21–January 20, 2008
Salvador Dali Museum, St Petersburg, Florida, February 24–May 21, 2008
MoMA, New York, 29 June–15 Sept 2008 ... Read more

Book Description

Maniac Eyeball is the third, final and most comprehensive volume of autobiography written by the late Salvador Dali. Maniac Eyeball contains the frank and uncensored confessions of Salvador Dali, from his childhood and first adolescent sexual experiences to his emergence as a painter, surrealist and eventually the most famous-and possibly richest-artist of modern times. These inspired tracts, covering art, love, sex, money, death, fame, science, his famous friends and enemies, and his extraordinary creative genius, reveal the intricate workings of Dali's mind to create not only an unparalleled autobiography, but also one of the key surrealist texts yet published.

Salvador Dali (1904–1989) entered the ranks of the Surrealists in 1929 with a series of iconoclastic paintings which fused technical virtuosity with Freudian infantilism, leading to his invention of the "paranoiac-critical" method. Later expelled from the surrealist group, he was christened "Avida Dollars" by Andre Breton while acquiring the reputation of master showman and scandalist. His art and writings remain among the most unique and important bodies of work of the 20th century.

"Dali's paintings reveal in the most powerful form the basic elements of the Surrealist imagination: a series of equations for dealing with the extraordinary transformations of our age. Let us salute this unique genius, who has counted for the first time the multiplication tables of obsession, psychopathology and possibility"-J.G. Ballard

Volume One of Creation Art Directives, a new series devoted to promoting the avant-garde
Contains over 100 photos, illustrations and paintings by Dali
Cover quote by J.G.Ballard
Companion to Creation's successful Diary Of A Genius (20,000 sold to date)

Book Description
Outrageous and enigmatic, Dal remains one of the twentieth centurys most popular artists. This book presents the complete paintings of the Salvador Dal Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, which houses the most comprehensive collection of Dals art in the world. It provides a unique overview of Dals career from his student days to his postwar fascination with history, science, and mysticism, and finally, his later, more cryptic works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Dali - Salvador Dali Museum Collection
This was the first time I had ever ordered anything from the web and I found Amazon's service to be very good, the item arrived within 10 days, well packaged.The item itself is of the best quality and I am very pleased with the service I received.Indeed I ordered another book recently which arrived within 48 hours.Full marks!

Dali on the Beach
On a recent family visit I had the great fortune to visit the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. This excellent book cataloguing the museum's collection then makes for a very nice souvenir, of course--but it easily stands outside of this immediate context as a fine art book in its own right.

The main feature of the book is definitely the 94 large, carefully reproduced color illustrations of Dali's paintings held by the museum. These range from some of his earliest works in the late 1910's to his large scale masterpiece "The Hallucinogenic Toreador" of 1969. I had never seen the earlier works before, and these show some of his first halting steps and experiments as an aspiring artist and the gradual evolution of his distinctive style. Among all 94 illustrations there is a good mix of famous classics you've seen a million times and lesser known gems that are equally intriguing. And each illustration comes with a commentary by Robert Lubar that clarifies the painting, its significance and symbolism, and its context and place within Dali's artistic development over the years with great eloquence without explaining the picture away.

Lubar's Introduction (with 9 interesting black & white illustrations) makes for a nice, brief overview of the artist's life and career, and the Biographical Chronology in the back includes several photographs of Dali through the years (including him with the founders of the museum). There are other useful tidbits too for the serious art historian and Dali specialist.

In short, even if you haven't been to the Dali Museum, this is an excellent coffee-table book of weird, whimsical, and wondrous surreal art by one of the twentieth century's greatest and most eccentric artists.

detailed informative book on the genius of art
i bought this book at the amazing salvador dali museum in st.petersburgh florida which i strongly recommend in itself.this the book of some of salvador dali's works on display at the museum is a detailed look into the life of the man and the myth. with each work is a detailed explanation describing their meanings and what dali was up to during the time of their production.i am grateful for having read this book as dali is my all-time favorite artist.with this book i've learned more about him and his works' meanings,in which i'm sure all of us have taken for granted.i knew that alot of dali's work is based upon sexuality but never knew before how freudian it all really is.the book explains dali's deep fascination with sigmund freud's writings and beliefs and they come out within his work.if you've never experienced THE man before and appreciate art than this is a good source.if you have the chance visit the salvador dali museum in st.pete,fl.with any look they will be showing the brilliant short film that dali made with another brilliant mind luis bunuel called,"Un Chien Andalou."

Delightfully Dali
If you have any space left on your coffee-table, this is the perfect art book for you! Rarely do you ever find a more complete presentation of Dali's works, both popular and private, in a single volume. This collection presents both the whimsy and the nightmares that are characteristic of his work, giving an accurate depiction of his range.If you thought Dali was just another haunted artist, the paintings in this book will reveal his gift for humor as well.Filled with insightful comments by Lubar, this book is a great compilation for anyone interested in Dali. ... Read more

Book Description
Almost half Dalí's illustrations in this book have rarely been seen

This publication presents the entire painted oeuvre of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989). After many years of research, Robert Descharnes and Gilles Néret finally located all the paintings of this highly prolific artist. Many of the works had been inaccessible for years - in fact so many that almost half the illustrations in this book have rarely been seen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Dali revealed
Dali (Mallard Fine Art Series) I have read this book cover to cover and enjoyed every word! Paul Moorhouse manages to give a great amount of information covering Dali's life, his contribution to Surrealism, hidden aspects of his personality, his thinking and preferences at different periods in his life, thus allowing the reader to enter the magical world of Dali.The paintings selected span Dali's lifetime and represent the major directions of his work at different points in his life.The explanation provided for each painting includes its symbolism, its relation to what the artist was going through personally at the time, as well as connections with the historical period and other influences.The only minus is the quality of the reproduction of a few of the paintings which is a bit disappointing.All in all a book I highly recommend.

Even better as a whole
The value of this book is in its 1600+ image reproductions. A few of them are photos of Dali or the people and places that inspired him. A very few show existing artworks to which Dali's creations responded. The overwhelming majority, however, display Dali's own paintings or the sketches related to them.

And the mass of imagery is overwhelming. The book traces Dali's output from his early, formative periods onwards. Although Dali was productive in the 1920s, his familiar style emerged in the 1930s and simply expanded for the next half-century. The chronological organization of this book lets us see Dali's art and personality develop. Among other things, we see how his sketching evolved from pen drawings early in his career to loose oil sketches later. This also seemed to complete some kind of cycle, from the relative crudity of his early work, to the crystalline finish of his best-known years, back to imprecision again, but with all of his mature expressiveness.

By its attempt at completeness, this presents aspects of Dali that other authors often ignore. For example, Dali was profoundly influenced by Catholic Christianity. Although his personal beliefs may be difficult to fathom, he produced some of the most beautiful images of Christ ever created.

Descharne's commentary supports the images well, but it's hard to read. I don't mean that the text is badly written - quite the opposite, it is very helpful, especially in biographical notes that describe Dali's life at the time of each work. Instead, I mean that my thoughts can't stay on the words for long when the pictures take such command of my attention.

//wiredweird

Every Painting he did is here
Every painting he did is here.They list the paintings in chrnological order.Each painting is titled and they describe some of the paintings throughout the book.In the back tehy list the size of the painting and what it was painted on if you want to know that stuff.Overall there are 1648 paintings or images.This book is great.

Art of Dali
I liked the book. The mix of explanations of the painting and his life was very descriptive. I learned a lot about his friends and famliy. The book just reminds me that in every genius there's a lunatic.

DALI at his best...........
After collecting, selling and trading Dali art works for more than 30 years, Mr. Robert Descharnes, one of Dali's past secretaries, has outdone himself in this magnificent book. Without a doubt it will become a collectors classic and a must for any serious Dali admirer. Well worth its price in gold!!!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com
"The world will admire me. Perhaps I'll be despised and misunderstood, but I'll be a great genius, I'm certain of it."

At 16, Salvador Dali had already developed the remarkable ego and uncanny perception that would distinguish him as one of the most notorious artists of the 20th century. A self-proclaimed surrealist, an avant-garde exhibitionist, and a criticized commercialist with questionable political affiliations, Dali was anything but benign. Biographer Ian Gibson(Federico Garcia Lorca) argues that the modern master was motivated primarily by the very last thing anyone would suspect him of: a very deep sense of shame. Via the artist's correspondence, diary, and autobiography (The Secret Life of Salvador Dali), Gibson meticulously stitches together the wild characters and deep-dish details of Dali's life: a guilt-ridden childhood, feelings of sexual inadequacy ("...I discovered that my penis was small, pitiful and soft"), his love affairs with Lorca and sex-pot Gala and the real passion of his life, surrealism. Critical, fair, and lively, The Shameful Life of Salvador Dali digs beyond the escapades and outlandish façade to expose the very personal and vulnerable side of one of the world's most eccentric performers.Book Description
The most thorough and ambitious biography of Salvador Dali ever written, a remarkable evocation of the outlandish personality, paranoia, and sexual torment lurking behind the nightmarish images that shook the world. Drawing on extensive original research and recently discovered sources, Ian Gibson presents a daringly original portrait of one of this century's most celebrated--and infamous--artists. He provides a full narrative of Dali's life as artist and as uninhibited exhibitionist, from his wild and troubled youth through his often rollickingly funny adventures in Paris, New York, and Hollywood to his poignant last years. Here is Dali fully revealed through his voluminous correspondence; his novel, poems, and essays; and interviews with some of those closest to him. The Shameful Life of Salvador Dali reexamines the roles of the two most important individuals in the artist's life: the Spanish playwright and author Federico Garca Lorca and the enigmatic, libidinous Gala, the Russian migr whose marriage Dali broke up and with whom he subsequently lived in unconsummated bliss and terror. This is a truly incandescent life of the surrealist artist who caught the imagination of the twentieth century. This enthralling narrative is augmented by a full discussion of Dali's most important works, with black-and-white illustrations of Dali's life and paintings reproduced at appropriate points in the text and more than thirty full-color reproductions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The best bio in English of a true genius
Ian Gibson has written a very well researched biography of one of the most enigmatic artists the world has given birth to: Salvador Dali Domenech. Gibson tries to give a rather impartial portrayal of this man, hated by some, adored by others but considered to be a genious by all.
Sexually traumatized,insecure, extremely shy but at the same time self-centered, egocentric, excentric, exibitionist,superfitial, communist, anarachist, monarchist, conceited, a traitor to his own friends and ideals... A long etc wouldn't be enough to define who Dali really was.
He lived in a fascinating era where he met fascinating people such as: Andre Breton, luis Bunuel, Garcia Lorca, Lawrence Olivier, Coco Chanel, Picasso,Christian Dior, Helena Rubinstein etc. Dali played a vital part in popular culture both in Europe and America. However, he was also considered to be a "sell out" by many, specially after the 1940's. As he grew old he became more and more excentric, his paintings being more and more shocking.A greedy person, he sorrounded himself by a court of "grand grotesques" (Notably transexual Amanda Lear) to Finally succomb to neumonia in the late 1980's
Love him or hate him, but Dali is and was a unique personality without comparison.

I've Never Read A More Vivid Biography
Most biographies I've read, the opening chapters are a bore of mundane details of the person's childhood that are uninterestnig and nearly always read the same. In contrast, Ian Gibson's writing style is so lush, thateven the detailed history of the Dali family before Salvador was born arecompelling. Gibson gives you the feel of the Spanish countryside and theera in which Dali and hisforefathers lived. Gibson is a carefulbiographer as well. Instead of taking Dali's own autobiography, "TheSecret Life Of Salvador Dali," at face value, Gibson researches Dali'slife and points out discrepencies and exaggerations of Dali writings. Itled me to reread Dali's own writings and gave me further insight into themind of the artist. I enjoyed reading about Dali's relationships with otherpainters (Surreal and otherwise), writers and poets such as Lorca, and hislove of jazz. Far from a dry outline of a famous person's life, this bookmakes Dali come alive.

Like Dali's art, this bio takes effort but it's worth it
If you want to be spoon fed Freudian explanations about what Dali's paintings mean, look for something else. But if you want a richly detailed, absolutely readable biography of Dali, this is it.I can't wait to readGibson's biography of Lorca, but for now, I'm savoring this one and I onlywish it were longer.

Unflatering Portrait of a Neurotic Genius
Well researched revisionist biography of one of the century's great artists.As the title implies, the author suggests that a key to understanding Dali is his feelings of shame.Dali suffered from almostparalizing bouts ofshame as a child, and struggled (not always successfully) to work around or overcompensatefor them.Those with acasual interest in Dali should startoff with the artist's own "TheSecret Life ofSalvador Dali" for many insights and a moreentertaining read.The "Shamefull Life" triesto find the storybehind the story.My biggest objection to this book is Gibson'salmosttotal dismissal of Dali's art after 1940,which I fear is a prejudicebased more on politicsthan the Dali's art itself.

More than adequate chronicle; but a snooze of a storybook
If you are looking for a complete documentary of Dali, here it is.Use it for school papers.But if you are looking for an enjoyable read of the life and times of Salvador Dali, that has yet to be written.

Gibsonmethodically lists each period of Dali's life in as much detail as isprobably possible in anything shorter than an archive.Although theauthor's thorough research is commendable-- certainly he has done a serviceto art history-- this dedication often drowns the reader without revealingmuch passion.And if you didn't comprehend Dali's perversions and thepsychoanalytical content of his works before reading this tome, you won'tafter, either. ... Read more

Book Description
Life Magazine wrote that one funhouse at the 1939 World's Fair stood out among the others:

"Dalí's Dream of Venus, the creation of famed Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, is the most recent addition to the still-growing list of amusement-area girl shows and easily the most amazing. Weird building contains a dry tank and a wet tank. In the wet tank girls swim under water, milk a bandaged-up cow, tap typewriter keys which float like seaweed. Keyboard of piano is painted on the recumbent female figure made of rubber. In dry tank...a sleeping Venus reclines in 36-foot bed, covered with white and red satin, flowers, and leaves. Scattered about the bed are lobsters frying on beds of hot coals and bottles of champagne....All this is most amusing and interesting."

The building's modern, expressionistic exterior, with an entrance framed by a woman's legs, and shocking interior, including the bare-breasted "living liquid ladies" who occupied the tanks, caused quite a stir. The funhouse was so successful that it reopened for a second season, but once torn down it faded from memory and its outlandishness became the stuff of urban myth. Now, more than 60 years later, a collection of photographs of the Dream of Venus by Eric Schaal has been discovered. In stunning black-and-white and early Kodachrome, they show both the construction and the completion of the funhouse-from Dalí painting a melting clock to showgirls parading for their audience. Salvador Dalí's Dream of Venus reveals not only an eccentric work of architecture, but also a one-of-a-kind creation by one of the most fertile imaginations of the 20th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautiful, Surreal Dream
I stumbled upon this book at a bookstore, and had to buy it. I have never seen anything like it, but what else would you expect from Dali. I would like to point out to the reviewer before me, that there is a reason that the photos look "pastellish". It was 1939, and color film was very new, and unstable. Even now color film is unstable. These negatives had been stored away for 70 years. Thats why the color photos seemed "washed out" as you put it. Even the last line of the book addresses that,we will never really see how Dali had envisioned his creation, because of the nature of color film. I find the colors to be very interesting, because of the fact they are not true to life, which for me makes the images that much more dreamlike. I find the book to be a beautiful edition, and would recommend to anyone interested in Dali, Surrealism, girlie shows, funhouses, and installation art. It's great to find things that you never knew existed. Amazon is great, but nothing can beat the good old used bookstore.

Limitations of the Medium
It's a wonderful trip through the fantasy world of 1939.It's faded, though.

The reproductions available limit the viewability of the photos here.Everything is pastellish;you cannot believe that this was how Dali really made this exhibition.He was fond of splashy, bright color;the photography in this book looks very washed out.

That said, though, the reader is amazed to learn what 1939 viewers would tolerate by way of "explicit" sexuality.You have nude women in provocative positions to be viewed by the general public.How did this make it through pre-war censorship?Most likely because it was ART.

You won't seem images like this anywhere else.It is wonderful stuff, and a must for Dali fans.

Quite possibly the world's coolest funhouse!
Though Dali would eventually disavow his "Dream of Venus" pavilion from the 1939 World's Fair (over those pulling the pursestrings interfering with his vision), its place in history was forever secured as one of the earliest "art installation exhibits", or alternatively the most amazing carnival funhouse ever devised.

Full of bizarre imagery pulled from Freudian psychology and the depths of Dali's own mind, visitors were treated to topless models cavorting in aquaria and other tableaux of surreal landscapes such as a 36-foot bed topped with lobsters baking on hot coals, a taxicab containing a rainstorm and Christopher Columbus, and an undersea mummified cow.Apparently a psychotic dream-rant by B-movie actress Ruth Ford played on endlessly in the darkness as well.

Schaffner gives a brief textual description of a walk-through of the pavilion, followed by a history of the exhibition's development.Schaal's recently discovered photographs are the primary illustrations; they document both the exhibit space as well as behind-the-scenes shots of the models in costume fittings and the construction of the pavilion.

The book, while fascinating, does leave one wanting more; certainly other photographs and film clips documenting the pavilion exist, possibly also of its rehab in 1940 as "20,000 Legs Under the Sea" (!), which would have been interesting in addition to the Schaal photos.Schaffner also very briefly quotes contemporary descriptions of the pavilion, lengthier passages would have been nice.It seems she is focusing on newly-discovered material, but since so little of the old material is easily available, its inclusion would have been well-justified.

All in all, though, a beautifully produced volume on a rare melding of high art and carnival culture, the likes of which will undoubtedly never be seen again.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
Presents a biography of Salvador Dali ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great book for youth
I bought 6 books from Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists for my daughter who is 7 years old. We read them together. She liked the books and showed some interest in arts. I suggest this book and other books from this series for all the parents who want their children to learn about art.

A wonderful way for kids to get to know Artists
Beautifully laid out and written in a way that is interesting for Kids. The Humor in this entire series makes it extremely pleasurable and easy to read. ... Read more

Book Description
A seminal surrealist text, revealing the astonishing and intimate workings of the mind of Salvador Dali, the eccentric polymath genius who became the living embodiment of the 20th century's most subversive, disturbing and influential art movement. This second volume of Dali's autobiography covers his life from 1952 to 1963, the time of amour fou for his wife Gala and their bizarre world travels. This is Dali's "rhinocerontic" period, and he preaches post-holocaustal gospels of nuclear mysticism and cosmogenic atavism leading to his painting of the Assumption and his film script, The Flesh Wheelbarrow. This new, expanded edition includes a brilliant revelatory essay on the importance of Dali's art to the 20th century by the seminal author J G Ballard. Illustrated throughout.

The only edition to buy. -- The London Times

Dali's paintings reveal in the most powerful form the basic elements of the Surrealist imagination: a series of equations for dealing with the extraordinary transformations of our age. Let us salute this unique genius. -- J G Ballard ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

very quick delivery
I was excited to see I got the book within a few days of ordering. Also, it was in excellent condition.

Review on "Diary of a Genius"
From 1952 to 1963, Salvador Dali kept a journal, a diary of his thoughts, creative reasoning's, and mindful tangents. In a matter of several hours and 186 pages, I feel as if I have delved far into the mind of a man whose entire life is either nonsense blathering of the brain or philosophical wonders reaching far beyond my own capacities of comprehension. While Diary of a Genius did not keep me in suspense, give me nightmares or have me in tears, the book did touch a part of my brain that doesn't get triggered very often, let alone four hours straight.
Dali writes daily entries into his diary discussing off-the-wall realizations, urges, drives, and adorations. One of the most interesting aspects of the book was to read the very intimate words of one of the most renowned surrealist painters in the world. Dali talks of his process in working on many pieces in a day-by-day account of his struggles and conquests in painting. He is fueled mainly by his love for his wife Gala, but also by the incisive apprehension and dissection of oddities accumulating in his head. He talks of his bowel movements, his intrigue in Hitler, his subconscious representation of rhinoceros horns, and his love of elephant skulls in the summer.
Diary of a Genius was, in short, an interesting read that kept me entertained for a short period of time. I am much more knowledgeable of Dali himself and will look at his work now with a new understanding of the peculiar man behind the brush. I would definitely recommend this book to any psychology student looking to analyze the intricate workings of a madman's ways and fantasies of the mind. I would also recommend this book to any fan of Salvador Dali, surrealism, or art in general. I would suggest, and I believe that Dali would agree with me, that this book be read while sitting on the toilet.

How Dalinian
Have you ever displayed elephant skulls in front of your home or imagined being a fish, or find yourself fascinated with your own excrement?One very eccentric man did all these things, Mr. Salvador Dali, one of the most famous artists of the Surrealism time.His book turned out to be a bit like his paintings, random and irrational.I felt as if I was reading the incoherent ramblings of a man with a slight case of narcissism.This at times, made the book somewhat difficult to follow.But, I found it to be true "Dalinian" as he would say.Reading about the thought process of some of his work was most intriguing.He seemed to find the "art" in some of the most awkward places.I would suggest familiarizing yourself with his paintings before reading this book.When he spoke of placing things on crutches, using Christian iconography, or drawing inspiration from Gala, you can have a visual idea in your head as you read.The book, however, had very little on the thoughts behind much of his other works.He wrote more about his thoughts on everyday life, popular people of the time, and his wife Gala.The man seemed to really know himself and live his life by his own philosophies no matter how bizarre or what anyone else said.Whether this is how he truly was or lived to portray one huge publicity stunt for the sake of shock value, he is a man that must be recognized for his work.I have to admit, I would rather learn about him through his unique paintings than having to read his book.

Questions Answered.Well, Not Really...
Diary of a Genius is a peak into the life of Salvador Dali.Mind you that this peak is VERY interesting, as the life of Salvador Dali was what a normal person would refer to as crazy.The introduction by JG Ballard is understandable and describes Dali's style as well as his psychopathology and the different phases of his art.
Most people who have hear the name, know of the man, or seen his art could probably make a well-informed assumption that the man is strange, but reading Diary of a Genius is the easiest way to confirm any suspicions that you might have.He surprises the reader on several occasions with the things that he says, most often discussing his own genius in an arrogant fashion or describing some of his twisted visions.Some entries into this diary, which covers Dali's life from 1952-1963, even discuss and describe his bathroom "activities" and their byproducts.
Dali reveals answers to some questions about himself, including thoughts behind the sky-bound mustache.The book also makes it known that he loved his wife, Gala.The book, in fact, makes this known a lot of times.His writing makes me think that many of the things he did to seem an outcast were simply to keep people talking about him.Dali was a master of hype, and this book either displays it, or truly shows that Dali was insane.
I am really not much of a reader, so it is rare that I read a book without falling asleep after ten minutes.Dali's diary was so interesting in its oddities that I found myself truly interested in what was being said.The associations that Dali creates are fascinating if you don't suspect him of trying to hard to live up to his self-title of a genius.I recommend the book to anyone who is interested in Dali, surrealism, Gala, feces, or psychology.

Diary of a Genius
If you have the patience and time to focus on all the wacky details that Salvador Dali has written, then this book will be an interesting and entertaining.For me, half of the overdramatic description is annoying and I really don't have an interest in reading.The best part of the book is what was left out as Dali's "Secret Life."With all the respect and love for Gala that Dali shows it makes me wonder if the secret life of his betrays Gala.There are anecdotes of wisdom, philosophy, and examples of pointless behavior, and somewhere in the words it's possible for anyone to relate to or share in a similar experience.Dali on the other hand you might think is just more warped than most.For example he writes about the intensity of kissing a loved one (Gala) in this way: "On awakening I kiss Gala's ear to feel with the tip of my tongue the thickness of the minuscule moulding on the lobe.At that moment I feel, all mixed in with my saliva, Picasso.Picasso, who is the most vital man I have ever known and who posses a birth mark on the lobe of his left ear."He tries to explain so many associations connecting his past to his family to the present to his feelings and his own thought.His mind must have always been racing to find meaning in absolutely everything encountered.That is what makes the Diary of a Genius a piece of work.It was fairly easy to read but exhausting at the same time because I felt exhausted for him.I guess there is no rest for the wickedONE. ... Read more

Book Description
Dal!, like the Renaissance artists, refused to be restricted to one unique form of expression: to that of painting. He wished to go beyond that point by making new discoveries; by trying out new means of expression; one of which being the creation through the combination of precious stones and noble metals.This pocket-sized edition is a superb introductory guide to Dali's jewels.This edition includes a brief chronology of the Dal! Jewels, detailing their conception in the early 1940's, through to their most recent exhibition. ... Read more

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The Definitive Book on Dali
This book is a comprehensive collection of Dali's work, perhaps all of it. The pieces are chronologically ordered from his first childhood attempts to his final masterpieces.The colors in the pictures are as close as you can get in photo reproductions of his work, and many of the images are full page (and this is a big book).Some of the images have short comments about the painting in the captions.There are also photos of the artist at work and play.Biographical information on the influences that shaped this unusual character is also included.This book is a must have for any Dali fan.If you can't own one of his paintings, this is the next best thing. ... Read more

Book Description
Salvador Dali was one of the most famous--and one of the most notorious--artists of the twentieth century, recognized as much in the popular imagination for his flamboyant personal style and his penchant for showmanship as for his groundbreaking artworks in many media. Dali & Film investigates, for the first time in depth, the part played by film as a key influence on Dali's art, as well as his extensive involvement in film-based projects. This illuminating volume presents both the major paintings that reflect the artist's famous preoccupation with film and materials related to the key film projects on which he worked.
Throughout his long career, cinema contributed to Dali's understanding of both the power and the uses of illusion. In 1929 and 1930 he collaborated with the influential Spanish Surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel on the startling and highly controversial films Un Chien andalou and l'Age d'or. Many years later, Dali worked with the Disney studios in Hollywood and with Alfred Hitchcock, devising a dream sequence for the psychological thriller Spellbound that remains one of the most innovative in cinema. Over the intervening years, Dali came to reject what he saw as the elitism of Modernist film, and embrace instead the popularity of mainstream cinema, recognizing its potential to bring his work to a vast audience. Extensively illustrated with reproductions of paintings, film stills, storyboards and photographs of the artist with figures ranging from studio bosses to the Marx Brothers, Dali & Film reveals the depth and persistence of Dali's fascination with the medium, bringing a new dimension to our understanding of one of the great masters of twentieth-century art. ... Read more

Book Description
This lively and fun introduction to Dali's life and art focuses on eleven masterpieces, inviting readers to explore their imagination as they discover the works of the great artist.

The book presents the strange, humorous, and wildly inventive paintings of Salvador Dali. The author helps children unlock the mysteries of Dali's artwork by explaining his use of detail, color and illusion. Each double-page spread in this delightful book explores a single work to illustrate the ideas and influences that shaped Dali's work. The author introduces themes such as dream imagery, landscape painting, portraiture, and satire. Throughout the book, the artist's sense of playfulness and mystery shine through, revealing to children the wondrous qualities of art. ... Read more

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Introducing young students to the creative insanity of Dali
It is hard to do justice to the imaginative insanity of Salvador Dali, but Angela Wenzel does a pretty good job for this volume in the Adventures in Art series."The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Salvador Dali" introduces young readers to the Surrealist artist who knew how to put himself in the limelight in ways other than his paintings.One of things that Wenzel does is that she provides some of Dali's own comments about his art, such as the 1937 painting "Sleep," where a heavy face that looks like the film director Luis Bunuel is propped by my crutches and explaining the link between the writings of Sigmund Freud on dreams and Dali's painting "The Burning Giraffe" (1936-37), where drawers are coming out of a tall woman's body.Also included are the famous melting clocks of "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), the fried eggs of "The Sublime Moment" (1938), and the multiple pictures within "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus" (1937).

What I especially like about this volume is how it looks at the origins of some of these paintings.For "The Endless Enigma" (1938) we have the original sketches of the six different paintings that Dali hid in the finished painting, while a postcrd showing an African village became a face turned on its side in "Paranoid Faces" (1931).Then there was the "Portrait of Mrs. Isabel Styler-Tas" (1945), which Dali based on Piero della Francesca's "Battista Sforza and Federico de Montefeltro" (circa 1465) by way of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's "Winter," a marvelous example of how the old becomes new in the hands of a talented artist.

Young readers will also be exposed to some prime examples of Dali's imagination with regards to other types of art beyond paintings, such as his infamous "Lobster Telephone" (1936) and the "Mae West Lips Sofa" (1937), although I miss seeing the harp covered with silverware that he made for his friend Harpo Marx.There are also some choice photographs of "Dali the superstar" engaging in the art of self-promotion.Just showing young readers examples of Dali's artwork is enough to get them interested in the artist, but Wenzel takes pain to explain how Dali created his masterpieces and what he was trying to do with some of these pieces.This is one of the more truly educational books I have seem about a great artist written for young readers. ... Read more

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Salvador Dali
Great book. This book is interesting and well written. Students in upper elementary through high school will enjoy the format of the book as well as benefit from the information.

For the budding artist
This book is a nice Dali biography for the young student;or for the parent who wants to get a jump on their pre-school's child cultural education. The vibrant colors and reproductions of Dali'spaintings are attention-grabbers that will have most young minds intrigued.One of the strong points of this series is making connections to other famous people and events of the artists time period. For example, the student is also introduced to such illuminaries as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud and their relationship to Dali. The book is not limited to just thesemen but also makes time references and other connections to others like Hitler, Franco and Dali's friends Andre Benton, Picasso and Luis Bunuel. His influences on future artists is also discussed. Many of Dali's famous painting are recreated like Christ of St. John of the Cross,The Enigma of Hitler,Autumn Cannabalism, and The Persistence of Memory. This book also features a timelime that runs throughout the book at the bottom of the page that features major world events and art related events. Included at the end of the book is a glossary and page that shows major world wide museums that feature Dali works, including the famous Dali Theater-Museum, Figueres that he created and in which he is buried beneath. The museum listings come with addresses and web sites. This is an outstanding small biography for the young student in the middle school years. If a student becomes interested in the works of Dali through this introduction there are many books available, including Dali and the excellent book entitled DALI. This school age biography is recommended for school and community libraries and personal art libraries. ... Read more

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The memory man
Surrealists said that someone who came up with something out of the ordinary must have been in love with Gala Eluard: her husband Salvador Dali's unforgettable imagery, from early autobiographical works through Surrealist dream symbols to metaphysical and religious themes, drew into the art world people who had been uninterested in painting. Perhaps he revealed the secret of his appeal when he said that he drew just one picture, mixing what happened to him and in the world with eternal themes from his childhood, such as the threatening father in "The old age of William Tell." Some childhood memories found expression in Hieronymus Bosch-styled decaying soft objects, as in "The persistence of memory." With "Cenicitas" and "La miel es mas dulce que la sangre," he launched his psychoanalytically symbolic art by following the Surrealist ideal of uncensored and uncontrolled imagery, knowing what to apply from Sigmund Freud's "The interpretation of dreams," and using sleepwalking shadows, Joaquin Sorolla-type light, and jewel-like clear colors. One of his hallmarks became pictures with multiple images: "The endless enigma" double, triple and quadruple imaging into such disturbing visions as a fish skeleton balanced on top of a stick and Gala's eyes staring cruelly out at viewers; "The image disappears" double imaging a Jan Vermeer-styled girl into a bearded man; "The metamorphosis of Narcissus" double imaging Narcissus into a petrified hand holding an egg cracking into a narcissus, with Sandro Botticelli-type dancing figures and Umbrian school-like golden glowing background; his metaphysical "Dali a six ans soulevant avec precaution la peau de l'eau pour observer un chien dormir a l'ombre de la mer" covering a dog with atomic reactor-type, mirrorlike heavy water and reflecting granite cliffs, in a Piero di Cosimo-styled seascape; one of his nuclear fission series, "The three sphinxes of Bikini," double imaging the atomic explosion into three heads, with one turning into two trees. Later, one of the high points in his religious paintings was floating a foreshortened "Christ of St John of the cross" over an early evening sky and above the rocks of the painter's homeland. From his fascination with three-dimensional art and as an exercise in the stereoscopy that he saw in Gerard Dou's art, he painted "Dali from the back painting Gala from the back externalized by six virtual corneas, provisionally reflected by six mirrors." And his final masterpiece Teatro museo Gala-Dali was a three-dimensional autobiography of all his ideas and images. Author Meredith Etherington-Smith reads magnificently with DALI'S OPTICAL ILLUSIONS edited by Dawn Ades and Robert Radford's DALI. Readers might want to look into Ruth Brandon's SURREAL LIVES, Sharon Fermor's PIERO DI COSIMO, Carl Linfert's BOSCH, Bruno Santi's BOTTICELLI, and Arthur K. Wheelock's JAN VERMEER. ... Read more

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Surreal and Oddly Real
To say that Salvador Dali was an eccentric is something of a cliche. He was much more than that, a voyeur, a manipulator, a genius. He once said, "The only difference between me and the Surrealists is that I am a Surrealist." To Picasso he wrote a postcard every summer for 40 years always saying the same thing: "In July neither women nor snails." This book captures the essence of Dali, surreal, but oddly real, more than any other book on the great Spanish painter, readers will come away understanding what Salvador Dali tried to achieve and how he reached his goal. ... Read more

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Dali on Dali
That's the only subject that Dali ever seemed to discuss. I know that this short volume is supposedly about modern art, and even mentions a few other artists. Really, though, this is by Dali and about Dali.

He was a consistent man. His art was finely crafted, but gave new definitions for the surreal and the impossible. His writing has the same character. He often spoke in a private vocabulary that, perhaps, only he understood. Even in English translation, his sentences have a rolling sound, and some roll on for half a page or more.

In spite of himself, Dali sometimes let an intelligible thought come through. He had the highest regard for Vermeer and Raphael, and the lowest for Picasso. That last is uncertain, though. He may have seen Picasso as the hero who opened the way for a new rise of modern art by first dragging it to the lowest depths.

This is not Dali's only writing, and not his longest or most focussed. Oddly, Gala (his wife and muse) is mentioned only in some of the calligraphic scrawls that adorn the page. Other of his writings are more revealing and more explicitly autobiographic. Still, this brief book is an interesting look at one of more fascinating minds of the twentieth century.

Best of all, this is Dali. It's not by someone else, about Dali. It is Dali.

Dali His Clocks Straight Now
Salvadore Dali of art fame has written this novel in a attempt to explain modern art, the nuevo and contemporary look we see through his "Persistence of Memory Piece". The book explains the concepts ofmodern art and paiting in a way that is informative and exciting. Dalimakes the reading interesting, ... Read more