Dalí

by Edmond Baudoin

Genius, eccentric, exhibitionist: There is no shortage of adjectives to describe the great surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (1904–1989). Yet this iconic artist and controversial thinker remains a figure shrouded in mystery. Plunging into the Spanish painter’s unbridled, fantastical universe, graphic novelist Edmond Baudoin takes us on the trail of a man known as much for his talent for self-promotion as for his bold and extraordinary work. He emerges with a convincing personal vision of the man behind the artist. Commissioned by the Pompidou Centre, Paris, Dalí is a graphic novel of rare brilliance, which captures in beautifully expressive detail the life of one of the world’s most instantly recognizable painters.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Art, Comics, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Edmond Baudoin is an artist, illustrator, and writer of sequential art and graphic novels. Baudoin left school at the age of 16 and went into military service. He later worked as an accountant at the Palace de Nice (L’Hôtel Plaza). At 33, he left the accountant trade to pursue drawing. Baudoin was an art professor from 1999 to 2003 at the University of Quebec

Reviews

[Sheziss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha encantado.

Y soy una mala persona. Este libro era un regalo de los Reyes Magos, pero no de mis Reyes Magos.

Lo vi y tuve que leerlo, es un libro grueso, pero te recreas en las imágenes más que en texto. Las imágenes son en blanco y negro, excepto cuando llega Gala.

Gala es todo color.

Todo lo demás es blanco y negro. Trazos gruesos, desesperados, como de la mente de un 'loco'. O de un 'paranoico', como se decía Dalí.

No es exactamente el estilo de Dalí, pero sus motivos aparecen en cada página. El significado de sus motivos, expresados en los bocadillos que van apareciendo aquí y allá, con diferentes fuentes y tamaños de fuente.

El hilo argumental lo llevan dos seres que miran a Dalí y su vida con una lente omnipresente pero, al mismo tiempo, interaccionan con el propio Dalí de cuando en cuando. Uno de ellos conoce a Dalí, y el otro hace las preguntas y va 'tirando' del hilo, desvelando detalles y misterios sobre la psique del artista.

Aparecen de forma más o menos directa artistas y personalidades del momento: Lorca, Buñuel, Picasso, Anaïs Nin, Coco Channel, Hitler, Breton, Andy Warhol... Mencionan la Guerra Civil Española, la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la bomba de Hiroshima... y cómo todos ellos, de una forma u otra influyen en el protagonista. En su locura. En su inspiración. En su arte.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been reading all of these Art Masters Series bios of great artists such as Birmant's Pablo, Stok's Vincent, and I have Munch by Kverneland here, too. They are all great, and they all seem to be different, comics/illustrator bios, obviously more visual representations than the multitude of written bios we have of these artists. Makes perfect sense, of course. And this one by French art comics guy Baudoin works in the spirit of surrealist Dali, in some sense. It's unconventional, as he was, and is not trying to imitate him but is trying to give us some taste of the time without being a chronological representation of his life. Touches on his connections with Picasso, Eluard, so many others, but mainly touches on these relationships. A little bit of name-dropping, maybe, but hey, I was interested. And the love of his life, Gala, becomes a kind of focus, which provides some warmth to the notably crusty and crazy-seeming artist whom many thought cared more about money and fame than art. In black and white, pen and charcoal, sometimes a little smudgy. Every page is a work of art from Baudoin. A high bar for these comics artists to do art about great artists, but Baudoin is also great.

This bio, like maybe many of the Art Masters Series, works like a kind of introduction for people that know little of Dali, or a commentary on him from an artist for those of us that know his work well. As with the other volumes, it is also a commentary on Dali by another avante garde artist from a later time, a dialogue between artists, and not any sort of factual biography. We have plenty of those, after all.

Hmm, why not five stars, when we have already doubled down ton the genius factor in this project. Dunno, I liked it a lot, just didn't completely rock, though individual pages are awesome. It was darker and shorter than I expected/hoped, though.

[FELIX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un paseo por la historia y vida de Dalí. Para conocer un poco a Dalí. Siempre me atrajo o atrapó este hombre. Un genio un poco loco. Pero quién no está un poco loco en esta vida que es una locura

[Ana Pau De la Borbolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya me hacía falta una lectura de una sentada. Es el segundo libro que leo de la serie Art Masters; una colección de biografías de grandes artistas en formato de novela gráfica.
Como esperaba, la biografía de Dalí es delirante. Retorcida y perturbadora a ratos, no me dejó quitarle los ojos de encima.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dali was one of the first artists that I really connected with. While I am less interested in his work these days, I still do appreciate it. I am fascinated with his life and the explorations in existentialism. This volume is visually stunning. Lots of charcoal with only a splash of colour throughout the book. Unfortunately I didn't get as much from the story. Jumping between explorations of Dali's life and a modern conversation about his impact on art, Baudoin leaves a bit to be desired. Perhaps a more focused story would have worked better.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinante recorrido por la biografía de Dalí tomando como inspiración sus composiciones, sus historias personales, todo menos el estilo que es del propio autor porque como dice en el texto 'está tan loco como él'. Para mí ha sido una delicia cada una de las páginas.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

What intrigued me: I bought this book for my Mom, but couldn't help reading it.

What I liked: This is a fantastic book. The images and color give the story more emotional weight.

What I didn't like: There is a short timeline at the end of the book, that basically retells the graphic novel in text. For some reason that really bothered me.

Favorite quote:

[Donia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best purchase I've made this year.
The fact that its a graphic novel creates an additional element to the story telling because I almost felt I knew Salvador Dalí. The illustrations made you FEEL something. I can't wait to reread this over and over again and grasp every little detail.

Edit: I reread it again this year and still one of the greatest illustrated novel I've ever read. Will probably read AGAIN AND AGAIN!

[Dustyloup · Rating 4 out of 5]

j'aime bien cette idée d'interpréter l'art de dali - un peu comme le bd "munch" - beaucoup de recherche derrière

[Mickey Bits · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this one was tedious to complete. That's a lot coming from me who routinely gives five stars to the vast majority of books I read, especially the "graphic novels." But this one was particularly boring. There author/illustrator has obvious talent; I don't necessarily take issue with the art.

The narrative basically follows Dali from the beginning to the end of his life. However, if the reader unfamiliar with many aspects of Dali's life or the art world of that era, many things are unclear and confusing. Much of the narrative is in the form of a dialogue and it's unclear who is speaking and to whom they are speaking. Is it Gala? Is it a praying mantis? Maybe that's a nod to surrealism but it was over my head. And then one wonders... am I too ignorant, too uneducated to understand these allusions? That's a definite turn-off. Then somewhat inexplicably, the author writes biographic passages about the events in Dali's life separated by year. At the risk of belaboring the word, each of these passages is boring. Informative yet dull as a well-used pencil.

Quite disappointed with this one.

[Sarah Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this as really enjoyed the Vincent graphic novel from the same Art Masters series. Unfortunately it didn’t compare as turned out to be a bit too much about the artist and author of the book in a way more than Dali himself somehow. Was more like the artist showing off look this is all I know about him and my interpretation of his drawings rather than actually telling you a story teaching you things about Dali’s life. Was a bit too muddled and unclear especially if you’re not super familiar with a lot of his paintings and the names as there’s actually a lot with quite similar titles which matched with the artists drawings was hard to decipher which was which sometimes. I appreciated at the end of the book there is a more traditional timeline and catalogue of Dali’s work however it would have been much more enjoyable if there were images in that section too! Was a quick read and did learn a little but the construction of the book just left me a little confused unfortunately.

[Chelsea Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the Edward Munch biographic novel I read just before this, the author (and a friend) appear in dialogue here intermittently in the text, but there is less of a clear line than in that book; the author compares themself to Dali and comments on why they made certain stylistic choices. However, in this book I feel like the frenetic visual style of the author-artist here is a bit distracting. I don't know if this would be true regardless of the subject, but I found myself several times going to Google an artwork or an event in Dali's life rather than savoring the pages covering those topics in the book itself. It seems like Dali may have been a difficult person to try to get into the head of though; into making pronouncements and competitive; incredibly prolific in writing, artwork, and commercial collaboration, but hard to get to know after a certain point in his career. I would be interested to read more about him and his wife and muse Gala, who I had never heard of.

[Kylie Combs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to find this, especially after finding the amazing graphic novel about Frida, but I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I expected. The storytelling method was strange (and not in an absurdist way). I did appreciate most of the art, but again, not so much when it coincided with the story telling. It felt a bit like the author/artist couldn't really figure out how they wanted to tell the story? It was part biography, part critique? I don't know... I did learn a little bit, and love the idea of this series, and hopefully I'll find some of the others. And at some point, hopefully I can read more about Dali than what someone else thinks about his art.

[Queenie Gultia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salvador Dali’s surrealist art works comes from his personalities which are narcissist, exhibitionist, psychotic, sadistic, and a sexually deprived individual. All the ingredients needed to be the self-proclaimed genius that he is. He wanted to be controversial so that he would become immortal. How does one become immortal? He continues to live when people conjure his name.

This book finally gave me the answer as to why Dali kept drawing crutches with various art pieces. For him, the crutch represented life and death.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one feels simpler, less detailed/nuanced than others in this series. That's not a complaint, only an observation. I love being able to put artists within their historical context. Since Dali lived during my lifetime, perhaps that was easier for me to do in his case. He had a pride and an irreverent sense of humor that were familiar but a penchant for exhibitionism that was not. What struck me was his seeming devotion to a single woman.

[Suzanne LaPierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are wonderful and do justice to a biography of this famous surrealist, but I found the text somewhat confusing. The timeline notes in the back help those of us who want a more linear guide to the artist's life. You'll want to look up the major paintings that are mentioned in the book, as no reproductions are included.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool little comic-style biography of Dali with an eerie art style, random narrator switches, dissonant asides, and fourth-wall breakages that clearly illustrated the kind of crazy he was dragging around. I've read a lot about Dali, but this is the clearest picture of the man I've ever had.

[Giana Ricci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take your time with this book. The illustrations are haunting and pay a wonderful homage to Dali, but if you skim them too quickly you will miss extraordinary details. I really enjoyed spotting the references to other artists like Goya, Vermeer, and Velasquez in the illustrations.

[Arun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not gonna give you a comprehensive understanding of Dali, then again I don't believe anyone can. But for a casual reader who appreciates a graphic novel, who is interested in art will find this book engaging.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very well-illustrated bio. He comes off as an egomaniac, and maybe he was, but it's great if you can get past that unfortunate personality trait.

Recommended for anyone with a collection of rhinoceros horns.

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird book about an unusual man.

I’ll have to go back and look at his art again.

[Lou-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art in this is absolutely spectacular

[Aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly hard for me to evaluate this one. It was intensely chaotic, but I get the feeling that was intentional? Anyways it sounds like he was a terrible man.

[Alexis Marie Chute · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this book, but the character’s dialogue was dry.

[Draco Sanguinis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encontrara datos muy interesante y personales de Dalí el pintor, ademas estara acompañada de imagenes que a modo personal me gustaron mucho.

[John Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit mad like Dali himself

[Ruth Bernardez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A close aproach to Dali's biography.

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, the art was good and interesting to look at, but the writing was a little dry for an extraordinary life like Dali's.

[Ricardo Rodríguez Quintero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno puede admirar o no a Dalí, lo que no puede hacer es ignorar su legado. Baudoin —otro sujeto innegablemente interesante, un sabio— emprende en este libro la tarea de ilustrar al lector acerca del periplo por la Tierra de este personaje en un viaje vertiginoso y poderoso.

Un volumen necesario para cualquiera que tenga alguna inquietud artística entre las sienes.

[Ingrid Joselyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gráficamente impresionante.